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Scientific Circulation 
Management 

FOR NEWSPAPERS 



BY 

WILLIAM R; SCOTT 

AUTHOR OF "THE AMERICANS IN PANAMA. 




NEW YORK 

THE RONALD PRESS COMPANY 

1915 






Copyright, 1915 

by 

The Ronald Press Company 



SEP ^2 1915 
©CIA411674 



TO 

EDWIN J. PAXTON 

A REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN 
NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER 



INTRODUCTION 

There are 24,724 newspapers and periodicals in the United 
States and Canada, and each one of them has a circulation 
problem. l In this volume, the problems of newspaper circula- 
tion alone are considered, for it would be impracticable to cover 
periodical circulation also in the same volume, though the two 
have many fundamental principles in common. 

The daily, triweekly, semiweekly, and weekly newspapers 
in the United States and Canada number 20,777. Of this total, 
the United States has 18,825, divided into 2,502 dailies and 
1X323 weekly newspapers. Among the dailies of this country 
there are approximately three evening papers to each morning 
paper. 

Owing to the rapidity with which circulation management 
has come to the fore as the supreme problem in newspaper 
publishing, the time is not distant when as many books on the 
subject will be available for the student or the beginner in the 
work as may be had upon the other major branches of news- 
paper publishing — editorial and advertising. At the present 
time the only information available is in the trade press and 
in the bulletins of the International Circulation Managers' As- 
sociation, issued bimonthly. This work, consequently, is a 
pioneer effort. 

One of the main difficulties in an attempt to reduce circu- 
lation management to principles, or to standardized practice, 
is to establish the natural boundaries of the subject. A nar- 
row conception would say : " The editorial function is to pro- 
duce a newspaper which the public will buy; the circulation 



vi INTRODUCTION 

function is to see that this product reaches its market." But 
in actual practice this concept is violated constantly. The cir- 
culation manager nowadays invades the editorial rooms with 
hints and suggestions on policies and features that will attract 
or hold readers, and often his advice means the difference be- 
tween success and failure. 

The governing idea in this volume is that of the circulation 
manager as a creative force in the publishing organization. 
No longer is he thought of as the man in the basement doling 
out newspapers to newsboys. In the best organizations, the 
circulation manager has won and will maintain an equality 
with the managing editor and the advertising manager. There 
are numerous reasons for this enlarged dignity and responsi- 
bility. One has only to observe the aggressive efforts of news- 
papers to increase their subscription lists, or sales, to realize 
that circulation management is now a profession in itself, just 
as much so as journalism or advertising. 

In a field where there are several newspapers of practically 
uniform merit, the circulation manager will be a decisive factor 
in winning for one of them the foremost position. And cer- 
tainly he will be the chief factor in maintaining an inferior 
newspaper upon a going basis. The prime reason, however, 
for the higher valuation of the circulation manager is found 
in the new standard of honesty in circulation figures. For- 
merly, the circulation manager headed the department about 
which much lying was done. The advertising department fre- 
quently misrepresented circulation by claiming a subscription 
list which did not exist, or if it did, owed its existence to a 
distribution with many unhealthy aspects. 

Today, the two outstanding facts are the willingness of 
publishers to tell the truth about circulation, and the determi- 
nation of advertisers to know the truth before placing an order. 
The consequence is that the circulation manager is in the open 
on firm ground, and the maintenance of a normal circulation 



INTRODUCTION vii 

by sound promotion methods becomes a problem of the first 
order. 

For much of this circulation manager's must thank the Fed- 
eral Government, which enacted the law requiring regular cir- 
culation statements, and thereby made circulation a definite 
commodity, and the manager, or producer of it, himself, a 
more important personage. 

Other agencies, like the organization of the International 
Circulation Managers' Association, have contributed to increase 
his prestige, until it has become a common practice with pub- 
lishers to promote the circulation manager to the position of 
business manager. 

More and more publishers are realizing that a publication 
must be marketed by the same principles that apply to any other 
commodity, and that the title " Circulation Manager " could as 
properly be " Sales Manager." 

No dogmatizing over any special methods of management 
has been indulged in this book, but the endeavor has been to 
consider all methods with an unbiased judgment and to see 
wherein they have points of contact as well as of divergence. 
The author has no brief for or against such methods as premi- 
ums, contests, and other promotion plans that usually evoke 
spirited arguments among circulation managers. 

Wherever it has been practicable, newspapers are men- 
tioned specifically to illustrate the subject under discussion, but 
necessarily only a small number, relatively, can be cited and 
many efficiently conducted circulation departments are not 
referred to. 

The general plan of this book is to give first a historical 
perspective, second an analysis of basic principles, and third 
examples of efficient management and standard promotion 
methods. The veteran circulation manager may not find much, 
if anything, that is new in the volume, except the effort to take 
a connected, perspective view of a subject heretofore treated in 



viii INTRODUCTION 

piecemeal. The general attitude toward the subject of circula- 
tion management has been threefold: primarily, to approach 
the subject from the viewpoint of the circulation manager; but 
also from the viewpoint of the advertising department and all 
those engaged in selling circulation in the form of space; and 
lastly from the viewpoint of the buyers of advertising space. 

Consequently, methods of management which do not seem 
desirable from the viewpoint of the advertisers — the people 
who foot most of a newspaper's bills — are analyzed critically 
and constructively. The book, therefore, should prove useful 
not only to the circulation managers engaged in producing cir- 
culation, but to those who sell it, and to those who buy it. 

Full acknowledgment is made to The Fourth Estate — the 
newspaperman's newspaper — for permission to consult its 
files. The fine spirit of helpfulness of its business manager, 
J. A. Savadel, is to the author a pleasant recollection. 

A blanket acknowledgment is made to other articles, to cir- 
culation managers who courteously assisted in supplying facts, 
and to sources of information which have slipped from the 
author's memory. Inasmuch as a pioneer book is largely a 
digest of other men's experiences, the failure to give specific 
acknowledgment in some cases is certain, though unintentional. 

The word " scientific " is greatly abused, but it is the only 
one which conveys the idea of exact, thoughtful, and systematic 
methods in circulation management, and so is used in the title 
of this book. It is hoped that one effect of a book on circu- 
lation management will be to spread this conception of the 
work, and to stimulate the profession along the lines of present- 
day tendencies, which promise so much that is desirable. 

William R. Scott. 

New York City, July, 191 5. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I The History of Circulation Management . 17 

The Rise of the Circulation Manager 

Conditions Producing Modern Circulations 

The International Circulation Managers' Association 

Honesty in Circulation Figures 

The Audit Bureau of Circulations 

Recent Tendencies in Circulation Management 

II Circulation as a Commodity 26 

Advertising Not a Commodity 

What the Advertiser Buys 

Circulation and Advertising, Coequal Departments 

III General Factors Affecting Circulation . . 30 

Factors Not Controlled by Circulation Manager 

1. Editorial Policy 

Adverse Competitive Conditions 

Newspaper Individuality and the Reading Public 

2. Advertising Policy 

Effect of Advertising Policy upon Circulation 

3. Selling Price 

The One-Cent Newspaper 

Increasing the Price 

Paying for Advertising News 

Circulation Revenue vs. Advertising Revenue 

Ratio of News Columns to Advertising Columns 

Relation between Price and Clientele 

Purchasing Power of Subscribers 

Economic Limit of Circulation 

4. Typographical Dress 

5. Color and Quality of Paper 

IV Modern Circulation Management ... 44 

The Ideal Publishing Organization 
Qualifications of the Circulation Manager 



x CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Departmental Co-operation 
Intensive Circulation Work 
Promoting the Publisher's Policy- 
Keeping in Touch with Readers 
The Appeal of Special Features 
Holding the Floating Patronage 
Effect of European War upon Circulation 
Advertising for Circulation 
Scope of Circulation Manager's Duties 

V Principles of Circulation Management — 
General Considerations ; Advertising 
and Circulation Revenue 57 

Fundamental Questions 

Standardization of Circulation Requirements 

Circulation Managers 

Locating the Weak Points 

Advertising and Circulation Revenue 
Revenue Fluctuations 
Meeting Rising Costs 
The Advertisers' Attitude 

Adjusting Circulation and Advertising Revenue 
Production Costs 

Circulation Revenue below Production Cost 
Ratio between Circulation and Advertising Revenue 
Principle Underlying Gross Revenue 

VI Principles of Circulation Management — 
Standard Sales Possibilities; Advertis- 
ing Rates and Circulation .... 68 

Fixing a Circulation Standard 

Standard of Metropolitan Transient Sales 

Standard of Sales in Smaller Cities 

The Retail Trading Radius 

Distribution of Circulation between City and Country 

The State or Mail Edition 

The Best Circulation 

Advertising Rates and Circulation 
Variations in Advertising Rates 

Variation between Periodical and Newspaper Rates 
Table of Advertising Rates 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Comparison of Advertising Rates 

"The Gilt Edge Newspapers" 

Rate not Commensurate with Circulation 

Carrying Unsalable Circulation 

Relation between Advertiser and Publisher 

Reducing Unprofitable Circulation 

VII Principles of Circulation Management — 
Returns and Overprint; Selling Ex- 
pense 82 

Restriction of Overprint and Returns 
Eliminating Deadheads 
Cutting Down Waste 

Selling Expense 
Percentage of Renewals 
Expirations and New Business 
Bad Accounts 
Normal Selling Expense 

VIII A Modern Circulation Department ... 90 

Circulation Department of The Indianapolis News 

Organization Chart 

The Ideal of Individual Service 

Keeping Close to Subscribers 

Mechanism of Distribution 

Handling City Circulation 

Instructions to Substation Managers 

Centralized Control 

The Work of the Carriers 

Indianapolis News Carriers' Association 

Controlling the Carriers 

Creating an " Esprit de Corps " among Carriers 

Instructions to Carriers 

Handling Country Circulation 

Handling Rural Circulation 

Instructions to Solicitors 

The Benefit Association 

Reason for The News' Success 

IX City Circulation 108 

Delivery Systems 

The Philadelphia System 

Home Delivery Systems 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

St. Paul Carrier System 

Portland (Ore.) Carrier System 

Carrier Service 

Reportorial Value of the Carrier Force 

Carrier Force as an Aid to Advertising Department 

Securing Maximum Results from the Carrier 

Street Sales Competition 

Handling New Subscribers 

Complaints from Subscribers 

Character of Service Rendered 

Carrier Collections 

System in Collecting 

Bonus System for Carrier Collections 

Eliminating the Dead-Beat 

Liability of Subscribers 

Handling Stop Orders 

Circulation Department and the Subscriber 

X Suburban and Rural Circulation .... 121 

Advertising Value of Suburban and Rural Circulation 

Rural Circulation vs. Urban Advertisers 

Determining the Retail Trading Radius 

Circulation Outside the Retail Radius 

Handling Suburban Circulation 

Rural Circulation 

Rural Subscription Schemes 

The Rural Solicitor 

Meeting the Farmer's Needs 

Handling the State Edition 

Local Distributions of State Edition 

State Edition and Local Papers 

Prestige vs. Expense in Foreign Circulation 

XI Esprit de Corps of the Circulation Depart- 
ment 133 

Circulation Manager's Preparation for His Work 

Circulation Manager's Responsibility 

Efficiency through Personal Influence 

The Carrier Problem 

Extra Compensation for Carriers 

Efficiency Contests 

The House Organ as an Efficiency Medium 

The Proper Use of Rewards 

The Soliciting Force 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XII Constructive Circulation Campaigns . . 149 

Analyzing Circulation Troubles 

The New York Tribune Campaign 

The New York Evening Post Campaign 

The Record of The New York Times 

Circulation Methods in Boston 

Hearst Circulation Methods 

The Influence of Editorial Excellence 

XIII Special Reader-Interest Features . . .159 

Holding the Subscriber 

Basis of the Special-Feature Appeal 

Nature of Special-Feature Appeal 

Analysis of Special-Feature Appeal 

Main and Subsidiary Appeals of Special Features 

Broader Effects of the Special Feature 

Suiting the Feature to the Occasion 

Advertising and Circulation Co-operation 

Special Features and Small Newspapers 

Slogans — Distinctive Characteristics 

XIV Premiums 172 

The Policy of Using Premiums 

Basic Principles of the Premium System 

The Modified Premium System 

The Modified Premium Plan for Periodicals 

The Coupon System 

Premiums vs. Cash Discount 

Psychology of Premiums 

Premiums in Other Lines of Business 

Premiums in the Competitive Field 

The Premium Plan in Practice 

Advisability of the Premium Plan 

Selection of Premiums 

The Premium as a Means of Approach 

Premiums for Mail Subscriptions 



XV Contests 



Psychology of the Contest 

The Contest Idea in Salesmanship 

Timeliness in Contests 



XIV 
CHAPTER 



CONTENTS 

Contest Details 

Cost of Contests 

Contests and Advertising Rates 

Forced Circulation 

Frequency of Contests 

Special Place of the Contest 



PAGE 



XVI The Sunday Paper, Special Editions, and 

Supplements 199 

1. The Sunday Paper 

The Sunday Newspaper and the Magazine 
Circulation Limitations of the Sunday Edition 
Advertising in the Sunday Edition 
Selling the Sunday Edition 
Sunday Circulations 

2. Special Editions 

3. Supplements 



XVII Circulation Accounting 210 

Uniform Accounting for Newspapers 
Present Condition of Circulation Accounting 
Effects of Audit Bureau Circulation Requirements 
Analysis of Circulation Accounting 
Forms Used in Circulation Accounting 
Routine of Handling Subscriptions 
The Mailing Room 

XVIII Postal Regulations as to Second-Class Mail 220 

The Publisher and the Post-Office 

Regulations as to Contests, Premiums, and Promotion 

Schemes 
Coupons 

Postal Definitions 
Sample Copies 

Mailing Cost of Second-Class Matter 
New Agents' Mailing Rates 
Credit Renewals 
Handling the Outgoing Mail 
Keeping on Good Terms with the Post-Office 



CONTENTS xv 

FORMS 

PAGE 

I Forms Relating to Subscriptions and Deliveries 231 

1. Subscription Blank 

2. Order to Start Delivery 

3. Subscriber's Receipt for First Copy 

4. Bad Delivery Complaint 

5. Complaint Slip 

6. Stop Order Blank 

7. " 

8. Time Sheet Automobile Delivery Service 

9. Rural Solicitor's Order Blank 

10. Rural Solicitor's Order Sheet for Cash Mail Subscriptions 

11. "Stop" Record for City Circulation 

12. Daily Record of Complaints, Stops, and Leaves 

13. Subscription Index Card 
14. 

II Forms Relating to Collections 243 

15. Carrier's Receipt for Collections 

16. " " " " — Continuing Form 

17. Carrier's Record of Collections 

III Forms of Reports 245 

18. Quarterly Statement to Audit Bureau of Circulations (first 

page) 

19. Quarterly Statement to Audit Bureau of Circulations (third 

page) 

20. District Man's Daily Report 

21. District Men's Daily Call Sheet 

22. District Man's Report on Stopped Subscription 

23. Rural Solicitor's Daily Report 

24. Rural Solicitor's Town Report 

25. Rural Solicitor's Weekly Report 

26. Traveling Representative's Daily Report 
2.^. Traveling Representative's Weekly Report 

28. Special Agent's Daily Report 

29. Special Agent's Weekly Report 

30. Special Agent's Weekly Report — Combination Form 

31. Carrier's Monthly Record Sheet of Subscribers 

32. Carrier's List of Subscribers 

33. Daily Press Report 



xvi CONTENTS 

PAGE 

IV Rules, Regulations, and Association Forms . 261 

34. Rules of the Indianapolis News Association of Carriers 

35. Rules and Regulations for District Men — Indianapolis 

News 

36. Application for Membership — Indianapolis News Associa- 

tion of Carriers 

37. Constitution and By-laws — Indianapolis News Benefit As- 

sociation 

38. Benefit Application — Indianapolis News Benefit Associ- 

ation 

V Detailed Instructions to Solicitors .... 280 

39. Instructions to Solicitors — Indianapolis News 

VI Forms Relating to Accounts 291 

40. Newsdealer and Carrier Record of Daily Drawings of 

Papers 

41. Ledger Account Sheet for Out-of-Town Newsdealers 

42. Ledger Account Sheet for Local Newsdealers 

43. Statement of Newsdealer's or Route Owner's Account 

44. Carrier's Daily Cash Account 

45. Morning Report of Counter Sales 

46. Afternoon Report of Counter Sales 

47. Subscription Register 

48. Daily Record of Papers Issued to Carriers 

49. Statement of Daily Collections 

VII Miscellaneous Forms 299 

50. Daily Office Record — Substations 

51. Carrier's Pledge 

52. Coal Coupon 

53. Carrier's Christmas Coupon 



charts 

page 

1. Distribution of Authority in Daily Newspaper Office ... 44 

2. Organization of Circulation Department 91 

3. Circulation Outside Retail Radius 123 

4. Analysis of Special Feature Appeal 162 



SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION 
MANAGEMENT 



CHAPTER I 

THE HISTORY OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The Rise of the Circulation Manager 

Just who was the first man to hold the position which is 
now designated " Manager of Circulation " has not been ascer- 
tained by the author. Inquiries of some of the older news- 
papers failed to establish the identity of this individual. The 
New York Evening Post, 114 years old, reports that Alex. 
Thompson was the first man to have the title in its organiza- 
tion, being appointed in 1890, twenty-five years ago. 

It is not a point of great importance, but it shows that cir- 
culation management as a profession came into being with the 
one-cent dailies in the late Seventies or early Eighties. Prior 
to that the newspapers allowed their circulations to grow like 
weeds, whereas now they are carefully cultivated, and some- 
times have a hot-house growth. 

The old men in the profession — and circulation manage- 
ment is now a profession — have lived to see a wonderful 
increase in prestige for the occupants of this position. True, 
in many organizations, the tendency still is to look upon the 
circulation manager as a kind of super-office-boy, but it is a 
decadent tendency. 

Competition has given that conception the last sad rites. 

17 



18 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Successful publishers cannot afford to have a second-rate man 
in the position. In the higher stratum of newspapers, the 
circulation manager is on a par with the other officers, draws 
a big salary and takes week-ends for golf ! 

As for salaries, the highest today is said to be paid by The 
Chicago Tribune — $10,000 a year. The New York Herald 
is quoted at $7,500, while other New York, Boston, and Phila- 
delphia papers and those published in cities of approximate 
size pay $5,000 or more. The list of papers which pay similar 
salaries is a long one. From this high mark the figure dwin- 
dles until $10 or $15 a week on dailies in small towns is rock 
bottom. But the number of circulation managers who now 
draw $100 a week is so large that young men who formerly 
thought the best opportunities were in the advertising depart- 
ment are seeking openings in the circulation department. 

With prizes of this magnitude, and in view of the new 
importance of the work, it is not surprising to find a constantly 
rising standard of ability among circulation managers. With 
the remuneration paid, and the modern tendency of publishers 
to recruit business managers from the ranks of circulation 
managers — instead of advertising managers — it is evident 
that within a few years the circulation manager will far exceed 
even his present dignity and importance. The reason for the 
direct line of promotion from circulation manager to adver- 
tising or business manager will appear in subsequent chapters. 

Conditions Producing Modern Circulations 

When the post-office department in 1885 granted a rate of 
one cent a pound on newspapers, far-sighted managers then 
could see much of the development that has taken place. The 
new rate enabled the newspapers to go after mail circulation, 
and to deliver suburban circulation at a low cost. Then, as the 
transportation facilities increased and the population grew, the 
big circulations appeared. 



HISTORY OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 19 

The merchandising influence upon the growth of circula- 
tion is one of the most significant. Alert merchants and manu- 
facturers began to see the advertising value of the newspapers, 
and as they increased their investments in space, the impor- 
tance of subscribers increased. It was perfectly plain that the 
more subscribers there were, the more advertising and the 
more revenue would accrue. This put a premium on circula- 
tion, and stimulated the newspapers to great exertions to swell 
their subscription lists. Then the modern department store 
came along, using whole pages of space. In any analysis of 
circulation growth, the department store must be accorded 
large importance. 

The most spectacular figure in the new fight for big circu- 
lations was William Randolph Hearst. His effect upon cir- 
culation methods has been no less marked than upon editorial 
methods. The influence of his editorial and news policy pre- 
ceded his break with old circulation methods, but the innova- 
tions in both departments were closely related and to a large 
extent interdependent. The extravagant lengths to which he 
went to attract readers had a lasting effect in circulation circles 
and is chiefly responsible for the high publishing cost of 
modern newspapers. Such personalities as Joseph Pulitzer 
and James Gordon Bennett were scarcely less important in 
their influence upon circulation growth. 

The International Circulation Managers' Association 

These and other forces gave the circulation manager a new 
sense of identity, but it was in 1898 before the various abortive 
attempts to form an organization of circulation managers 
reached a successful issue. On November 23, 1898, the ag- 
gressive spirits met in Detroit, Michigan, and organized " The 
National Association of Newspaper Circulation Managers " 
with about thirty-five charter members. W. H. Gillespie and 
J. L. Boeshans were the prime movers in the Association. 



20 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

By 1910 it appeared desirable to take in Canadian and 
other foreign managers, and the name was then changed to 
" The International Circulation Managers' Association." The 
annual meeting is in June and the present membership is 
nearly 400. 

In 1907 the Association began issuing an official bulletin, 
the first number of which appeared in August with D. B. G. 
Rose as editor. It is a bimonthly and contains practical arti- 
cles on circulation management contributed by the members. 
This bulletin has been helpful to the members, affording the 
only printed instruction, or exchange of ideas, available. The 
Fourth Estate — the newspaperman's newspaper — has recog- 
nized the growing importance of circulation management by 
printing an article on the subject every week, and other trade 
papers now treat the subject regularly. 

Texas was the first, and is so far the only, state to have a 
state association of circulation managers. The periodical cir- 
culation managers have never organized, but it seems certain 
that they will before long, for their work is of great impor- 
tance. Magazine competition is as bitter as any competition in 
American industry. 

A noteworthy feature of the first annual convention of the 
National Association was the action of Frank P. Glass, of 
The Montgomery Advertiser, in asking the delegates to advise 
him on the selection of a circulation manager for his paper. 
Prior to that, he said he had allowed the circulation work to 
stumble along in any hands, under his supervision ; but he had 
decided that the position was too important for further hap- 
hazard management. This illustrates strikingly the change 
that has come over publishers in their conception of circulation 
management. 

The annual conventions are notable for their practical and 
enlightening addresses, and for this reason many broad-visioned 
publishers encourage their circulation managers to attend them, 



HISTORY OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 21 

and pay the expenses of these managers when they go. Mem- 
bership is a recommendation to publishers for any applicant 
for circulation work. The young man ambitious to advance, 
by all means should join, and should look upon a convention 
missed as a distinct loss in his struggle for efficiency. 

As evidence of the higher development of circulation work, 
it may be noted that there is now at least one advertised " Con- 
sulting Circulation Manager," sustaining the same relation to 
the newspapers that an expert public accountant does to busi- 
ness accounting. 

Honesty in Circulation Figures 

There is a new idealism in publishing and it is fully evident 
in the circulation department. This new idealism is a de- 
monstrable knowledge that honesty is the best policy. James 
Keeley, publisher of The Chicago Herald, in an address in 
Boston made a plea for American-made products which would 
command a reputation abroad for quality, and for American 
business practices which would reflect fairness and sincerity. 
The newspaper and periodical press is in the van of this move- 
ment toward a higher plane of business integrity. 

Indicative of this, and by far the most interesting and 
hopeful sign of the times for the circulation manager, is the 
new standard of honesty in circulation figures. The latest and 
most perfect expression of this is the Audit Bureau of Circu- 
lations, but it was preceded by numerous missionary efforts to 
establish circulation on a scientific and honest basis. 

Advertisers for a time were willing to buy circulation " sight 
unseen " • that is to say, they accepted the publisher's statement 
without question. But the more that advertisers invested in 
space, the more insistent became the demand for knowledge of 
what was being bought in the way of circulation. The adver- 
tising agencies attempted to obtain this information, and here 
and there publishers themselves volunteered it. 



22 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The American Newspaper Publishers' Association made 
notable efforts to eliminate dishonesty in circulation figures ; 
the Association of American Advertisers was formed princi- 
pally of buyers of space to get at the truth ; the trade papers 
hammered at the ideal, and many other organizations and 
agencies flourished and waned. 

One of the best of the efforts made by publishers them- 
selves to elevate circulation to the basis of a definite commodity 
was the formation of what is termed " The Gilt Edge News- 
papers," sponsored by The New York Evening Globe. This 
group of about 200 newspapers is not incorporated, and its 
motto is to " Sell Advertising as a Commodity." A more 
accurate expression would have been to " Sell Circulation as 
a Commodity," for the avowed purpose of the Association is 
to furnish full and truthful circulation facts. Its quarterly 
reports give the net paid and gross circulations, show how this 
is distributed between the city and country, and quote the maxi- 
mum and minimum advertising rates. This group of papers 
will be considered in some detail in another chapter. 

The Audit Bureau of Circulations 

At present, the comparatively new Audit Bureau of Circu- 
lations is the last word in the movement to sell circulation as, 
a commodity. Its headquarters are in Chicago. The object 
of this Bureau, serving both the newspaper and periodical 
press and the advertisers, is to furnish accurate information 
in detail about circulations, such information to be obtained by 
voluntary reports from the member-publishers, 1 and then veri- 
fied by the Bureau's own expert circulation accountants. 
These experts, recruited from the ranks of successful circula- 
tion managers, enter a newspaper office and go over the books 
and dig up the facts in a most thorough and informative 
manner. 

1 5ee Forms 18, 19. 



HISTORY OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 23 

The Bureau's semiannual report shows the population of 
the city (corporate limits) and also of the trading territory out- 
side the city. Within the city the distribution is shown by 
carriers, newsdealers, street sales, and counter sales. The 
suburban distribution is shown by carriers, agents, newsdealers, 
and by mail. The country distribution is shown by newsdeal- 
ers, and by mail. The foregoing is strictly net paid circulation. 
Reports must be made on the unpaid distribution — the ex- 
changes, complimentary and sample copies, and the copies 
going to employees, correspondents and service, advertisers and 
advertising agents, and those copies used for the office and 
files. 

An analysis of circulation methods also is required, to show 
all subscription prices by mail or carrier, all special and trial 
rates, the price of single copies, what returns are allowed, 
whether premiums are given, whether canvassers are employed 
on salary or commission, whether subscriptions are obtained in 
clubs, whether the paper combines with other publications, 
what percentage of the circulation is sold in bulk to others than 
newsdealers, whether contests are used, or coupons or voting 
competitions, the value of premiums and prizes, the sources of 
any other subscriptions, the condition of subscription collec- 
tions, what character of advertising is excluded, and what 
telegraphic or other news service is used. 

These questions will show the exhaustive nature of the 
investigation, and the fact that up to June, 191 5, nearly 
1,000 publishers and advertisers had become members of the 
Audit Bureau of Circulations is significant of the trend of 
circulation ideals. The Bureau is maintained by a graduated 
scale of dues, based upon circulation for newspapers and peri- 
odicals, and upon population for advertisers. 

The only criticism of the Bureau that the circulation man- 
ager registers, is the provision that circulation reports must be 
sworn to by the publisher or business manager. This seems 



24 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

to infer that the circulation manager is not sufficiently impor- 
tant, or reliable, for his sworn signature to be accepted. 1 

Lying about circulation has not been a habit of circulation 
managers, who do not come in contact with the buyers of space. 
The advertising men are the guilty persons, and the Audit 
Bureau should be in accord with the modern estimate of circu- 
lation management by accepting the affidavit of the circulation 
manager. Bank reports are made by the cashiers, the men 
immediately in charge of practical operations, and circulation 
reports should be made by the manager immediately in charge. 

While such minor criticisms of the Bureau may be made, 
it is a safe prophecy to say that the organization will be per- 
manent, for already it has done such effective work that other 
organizations having the same object have retired from the 
field in its favor. Its general influence is to make circulation 
management one of the really big tasks that any man can 
undertake. The wise circulation manager will work to have 
his publication as a member. 

Recent Tendencies in Circulation Management 

In its 191 5 convention, the American Newspaper Publish- 
ers' Association considered the question of insuring truthful 
statements about circulation in the semiannual reports to the 
Government, and advocated an amendment to the law which 
would prevent false statements. The result may be that 
eventually the Government will require thorough and accurate 
reports under penalties, and in this event, private organizations 
like the Audit Bureau would be superseded, for, naturally, a 
really efficient Government bureau would be the standard. 
But unless the Government reached the Audit Bureau's high 
standards, a private organization always will be in demand. 

Still another evidence that the trend in circulation work is 

1 Since the foregoing criticism was written the Bureau has amended its rules 
50 as to require the circulation manager's signature to reports, 



HISTORY OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 25 

upward is the organization of the International Circulation 
Builders' Association, with members among the contest com- 
panies and other circulation promotion concerns. " Honesty 
First " is the slogan, and the object is to eliminate fraud in 
constructive circulation campaigns of whatever character. 

The grouping of several newspapers under one ownership, 
like the nine dailies in the Hearst group, seven in the Shafer 
group, the Munsey group, and so on, is tending to raise the 
standard of ability in the profession, of circulation manage- 
ment, for while each paper in a group has an individual 
circulation manager, there is a headquarters' circulation man- 
ager who must think in terms of several newspapers instead 
of one, and this broadening experience evolves the super-cir- 
culation-manager. 

The Detroit News has created a new position with the title 
of " Promotion Manager," above the Circulation Manager. 

It is noticeable that the magazines are reaching into the 
ranks of newspaper circulation managers for experienced men. 
In the magazine field also, the grouping of periodicals under 
one control is developing high standards of ability among 
circulation managers. The Hearst group, the Curtis group, 
the Butterick group, the American Lithographic Company 
group, the McClure group, the McBride-Nast group, to men- 
tion only half a dozen, require circulation managers who can 
direct three or more periodicals simultaneously. 

Veteran circulation managers will think of many facts and 
events in the history of circulation management which have 
not been mentioned in this sketch, such as the marvelous de- 
velopment of the printing press with an output of hundreds 
of thousands of copies an hour, and all the mechanical inven- 
tions and perfected paper-making processes which make pos- 
sible the modern newspaper. But the purpose here is to in- 
dicate only the larger forces and main currents in the circula- 
tion stream, A volume could be written on this phase alone. 



CHAPTER II 

CIRCULATION AS A COMMODITY 

Advertising Not a Commodity 

Anyone who studies newspaper organization is impressed 
with the commanding position that the advertising department 
has assumed. The word " assumed " is used purposely, for 
by strict -logic the advertising department is not entitled to 
the preeminence it enjoys. 

Because a newspaper's revenue is derived largely from 
the sale of space, the mistake has been made of overestimating 
the relation of this department to the whole enterprise. The 
gradually increasing importance of the circulation department, 
as shown on preceding pages, is proof that this misconcep- 
tion is being corrected. The view to be taken in this dis- 
cussion is that the advertising department in reality is an 
appendage of the circulation department. 

It was pointed out that the group of papers styled " The 
Gilt Edge Newspapers " (because they tell the truth about 
circulation) was formed to " sell advertising as a commodity." 
Now, advertising is not a commodity. A newspaper has only 
two products to sell, one being news and the other being cir- 
culation. 

What the Advertiser Buys 

The customers of the first product of the newspaper, news, 
are the public, or subscribers. The customers of the second 
product, circulation, are the advertisers. It would be just as 
illogical to say that the white paper is what the subscribers 

26 






CIRCULATION AS A COMMODITY 27 

buy, as to say that space is what the advertisers buy. The 
paper is merely the medium of conveying the news-product to 
the subscriber, just as space is the medium of selling circula- 
tion to the advertiser. 

This is revolutionary doctrine and will cause the advertis- 
ing men to smile superciliously when they remember the 
revenue produced through their department. But the position 
can be supported with irrefutable arguments. 

A railroad offers a good comparative illustration. Does a 
traveler buy a ticket from New York to Chicago, or does he 
buy transportation between these two points? On the face 
of things he buys a ticket. But the ticket is only a token. 
The ticket is evidence that he has bought transportation. 
This is a perfectly plain case. 

Now, does an advertiser buy space, or does he buy circula- 
tion? On the face of things he buys space. But the space is 
only a token. It is evidence that he has bought circulation. 
The rate he pays is not based, fundamentally, upon the space 
he uses, but upon the circulation back of that space. 

To continue the illustration, the traveler may buy a Pullman 
berth with his .first-class ticket. This merely indicates the 
manner in which he will be transported to his destination. 
It determines his privileges while he is being transported. 
So, an advertiser who buys large or small space is merely 
buying certain privileges in connection with circulation. He 
determines by the amount of space he uses the kind of use 
he shall make of circulation. The space he buys is the style 
he adopts in using the circulation, just as the Pullman ticket 
is the style the traveler adopts in riding upon a railroad. 

If a newspaper is successful in making advertisers think 
favorably of its circulation, it will sell them the privilege of 
using this circulation at a large profit. The business of the 
advertising department is so to impress advertisers with the 
paper's circulation as to induce them to make use of it. In 



28 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

this capacity the members of the advertising department are 
simply salesmen of circulation, with a head salesman entitled 
" Advertising Manager." 

Circulation and Advertising, Coequal Departments 

All this being true, it is an optical illusion to assign the 
advertising department a higher place in newspaper or periodi- 
cal organization than the circulation department. The tend- 
ency for the last ten years has been unmistakably to realign 
these departments, and at least to make them equal. In a 
strictly logical analysis, the advertising department is tributary 
to the circulation department. Unless the sale of news is 
made first to the subscriber, there would be no circulation to 
sell to the advertiser. 

The space the advertiser uses becomes vitalized only when 
the persons who constitute the circulation direct their attention 
to it. A newspaper, therefore, is an intermediary for the 
public and the advertiser. It assembles the individuals con- 
stituting the public in such a way that the advertiser can reach 
them by one announcement. Hence, what the advertiser buys 
is the privilege of talking shop to the people assembled by the 
newspaper. The fact that he uses space instead of a mega- 
phone is incidental. If a newspaper's subscribers could be 
gathered into one mammoth auditorium, and advertisers were 
sold the privilege of addressing them, no one would say that 
the newspaper sold space on the platform. 

As this distinction becomes clearer in the minds of publish- 
ers, the circulation manager will take higher rank. In truth, 
the very much higher rank he has taken in the last ten years 
is proof that this distinction has dawned in the minds of 
publishers. And the advertisers themselves have developed 
the same conception. What other interpretation can be placed 
on such agencies as the Audit Bureau of Circulations than 
that advertisers now see clearly that they are buying circula- 



CIRCULATION AS A COMMODITY 29 

Hon, and wish to know precisely what kind of circulation they 
are paying for? 

The manager of circulation is the pivotal figure in the 
sales organization of a newspaper or periodical. The edi- 
torial department is the manufacturing end. With the prod- 
uct this department turns out, the circulation manager builds 
up a patronage composed of subscribers and known as cir- 
culation. He has then produced a by-product known as ad- 
vertising, which is simply the granting, on definite compensa- 
tion, to merchants and manufacturers, of the privilege of using 
the newspaper's list of customers for the purpose of getting 
business for themselves. 

It is safe to assert that the advertising department of 
newspapers and periodicals has reached and passed its zenith. 
The abnormal importance attached to the advertising depart- 
ment, working out into much higher salaries for the head of 
this department than for the head of the circulation depart- 
ment, is abating rapidly. The fact that the largest revenue 
comes through the sale of circulation in the form of advertis- 
ing, rather than through the sale of news, will no longer cloud 
the issue. The upward movement of the circulation depart- 
ment may not continue so far that it will be superior to the 
advertising department, but it certainly will not halt until the 
two departments are absolutely equal, and until the circulation 
manager is paid as much and ranks as high in the organization 
as the advertising manager. 



CHAPTER III 

GENERAL FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 

Factors Not Controlled by Circulation Manager 

There are several factors affecting circulation which are 
outside the control of the circulation manager because the 
publisher determines them himself. A few of these general 
factors will be considered here, among them being: 

1. Editorial policy 

2. Advertising policy 

3. Selling price 

4. Typographical dress 

5. Color and quality of paper 

1. Editorial Policy 

By editorial policy is meant not only the political bias of 
the paper, but the broad treatment of news, whether sensa- 
tional, moderate, or conservative; the scope of the paper's 
appeal, whether to the masses or a class ; and similar policies 
which go to make up a paper's individuality. 

The circulation manager's problem is simplified or com- 
plicated according as the publisher elects to follow the main 
current of local prejudices, or to go contrary to them. If he 
is circulating a paper of Democratic persuasion in a strongly 
Republican community, the demands upon his ingenuity and 
ability are far greater than if his paper drifts with the current. 

Adverse Competitive Conditions 

Another situation that is difficult is where the competitor 
paper in the field, by reason of greater age, social prestige, 

30 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 3* 

and financial resources, occupies a position that makes the 
circulation manager's paper the " opposition." He is then 
fighting against odds all the time; but neither this, nor any 
such factor should wet-blanket his enthusiasm, for some of 
America's most conspicuous successes have been made in the 
face of just such odds. The game has more zest and his 
ability stands out preeminently when he makes a showing under 
such circumstances. 

The Hearst circulation men know what it means to buck 
the line of opposition as outlined above. In New York they 
met tradition, convention, social prestige, financial standing, 
political bias, and almost every other general factor that could 
be adverse to them, and instead of succumbing, they revolu- 
tionized methods and gained a successful footing. It is true, 
of course, that the editorial policy was principally responsible 
for the success of this invasion, but the circulation department 
did its full share. The circulation departments of the Hearst 
newspapers have been known to raise great sums of money for 
their owner on short demand. 

Newspaper Individuality and the Reading Public 

Just as the political bias serves to limit the sales possibil- 
ities of a paper, so the treatment of the news and the kind of 
special features used, make it fairly clear to the circulation 
manager what type of readers naturally should take the paper, 
and he is wise if he makes his principal bid to them. More 
and more in the publishing field it is becoming essential for 
publications to know themselves and their individualities and 
to build a subscription list congenial to this knowledge. Among 
periodicals, Leslie's Weekly announces frankly that it wants 
lawyers, doctors, bankers, business men, and people of that 
type as subscribers, and tacitly notifies others that, though they 
are admitted to the circle, they are not the honored guests. 

Individuality is as sharply defined in newspapers as in 



32 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

people. This is why large cities have so many papers. The 
subtle qualities that combine to make " personality " in in- 
dividuals, and which operate to win some as friends and to 
repel others, are found fully developed in newspapers and 
periodicals. Hence, the sooner the circulation manager under- 
stands that the moral, material, and mental qualities of his 
paper will seek their level in the community, the sooner will 
he seek to know what people constitute this level, and will 
then concentrate his energy upon getting these people into the 
fold. 

This knowledge can be gained only by actual contact with 
the public. It will be illuminating to the circulation manager 
to visit news-stands in various sections of his city and to note 
what kind of people buy the paper, and by interviews learn 
why they buy it. The letters written to the editor also will 
furnish clues. Complaints are an especially helpful source of 
information. 

Screaming headlines and red ink attract some minds and 
repel others. Emphasis placed upon the foibles of humanity 
as revealed in the courts, in divorces, scandals, crimes, etc., 
is equally decisive in denning a newspaper's clientele. While 
most papers print such news, the manner of playing it up 
makes the difference between a sensational and a conservative 
newspaper, and draws a distinct line between the persons who 
want your paper and those who do not. 

The rich, the middle class, the vast employee class, and the 
poor, all crave different mental food, and there are sub- 
divisions within these grand divisions. Because its editorial 
and news policy nearest approximates the average taste of the 
community, The Evening Journal has the largest circulation 
in New York. At the other extreme is The Evening Post, 
appealing to those who prefer a strict literary nicety and high 
intellectual quality in their newspaper. Under no circum- 
stances could the mind that characteristically enjoys The 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 33 

New York Evening Journal feel at home with The New York 
Evening Post, and vice versa. 

Between these two extremes are the other New York even- 
ing newspapers which cater to different strata of people. The 
fact that a few people of all classes read each of these news- 
papers does not prove, as their publishers so loudly assert, that 
they have a universal appeal. It is the majority of readers 
that determines a paper's appeal, or individuality. 

2. Advertising Policy 

More and more in American newspapers is the spirit of 
censorship at work in the advertising columns. This is equiva- 
lent to saying that the advertising policy, like the news and 
editorial policy, has a beneficial or harmful influence upon 
circulation, and it is the circulation viewpoint that is upper- 
most. 

The extreme manifestation of this spirit is found in The 
New York Tribune policy of guaranteeing the advertising it 
prints. The new ideal in publishing is that the newspaper or 
periodical has a direct responsibility to its subscribers, always 
to affect them for the better. Many newspapers reject certain 
kinds of advertising, such as liquor, medical, clairvoyant, etc., 
the theory being that readers prefer a higher tone in their 
reading. A few papers present the anomaly of censoring ad- 
vertising and then leaving the news columns wide open for 
degrading stories, or censoring news and leaving the advertis- 
ing wide open, but the general trend is upward in both ad- 
vertising and news. 

In other words, publishers are endeavoring to make their 
newspapers as gentlemanly in tone as they themselves are in 
private life. At the same time, it is evident that some largely 
successful newspapers continue to print nearly anything, either 
as news or advertising, that is offered, and which the law 
does not specifically forbid. 



34 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Effect of Advertising Policy upon Circulation 

The point in all this to the circulation manager is in the 
effect either policy has upon circulation, or in determining 
the class of readers which will be his natural customers. His 
selling campaign must conform to the editorial and advertis- 
ing policies if the whole organization is to move forward 
harmoniously. The selling talk of the solicitors will incor- 
porate the newest policy of the publisher, and the solicitors 
will be directed to the people who may be expected to approve 
the new policy. 

3. Selling Price 

This subject occupies a conspicuous place in any discussion 
of newspaper conditions. Undoubtedly, newspapers in the 
large cities, and even the smaller cities, selling at one cent are 
on precarious economic ground. A sudden shrinkage in ad- 
vertising revenue would leave them bankrupt, or under the 
necessity of reducing in size and news service to a point that 
would contrast startlingly with their present bulk. 

In Europe, where merchandising through advertising has 
not been developed to American proportions, the newspapers 
are handbills in comparison. Advertising, therefore, is the 
life of the American newspaper in its present size. It is this 
possibility of a reduction, or loss, of advertising revenue that 
puts vigor into the agitation for an increase in the selling price 
to two cents or more. 

The One-Cent Newspaper 

The American newspaper at one cent is unquestionably the 
greatest value sold anywhere in any age. For this nominal 
admittance fee, the buyer enters a forum where he may hear 
the news of the whole world, where through special features 
he will be entertained with fiction, pictures, and miscellany, and 
where he may meet every merchant or producer with whom 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 35 

he may need to deal. It is worth one cent to have any one 
of these three services, but he gets them all for one cent, and 
the advertiser foots the bill, or, if he does not foot the whole 
bill, at least three-fourths of it. 

It is right that the advertiser should pay. There is no 
other modern agency whereby he could disseminate his mer- 
chandising news so widely and so quickly. He is not an 
altruist. His expenditure for the privilege of talking to the 
reader is covered by the profit he will make from the reader's 
patronage. The newspaper, finding that the advertiser can 
afford. to pay well for this privilege, proceeds to assemble as 
many readers as possible and to raise the charge to the ad- 
vertiser. In order to increase the audience for the advertiser, 
the price of admittance is purposely made low, and one cent is 
as low as it can be made with our money divisions of to-day. 
Increased inducements to the reader in the form of extra 
features are offered by the paper to swell the attendance for 
the advertiser. The final result is the present situation — get 
an audience at any cost and make your profit out of the 
advertiser. 

Increasing the Price 

Now, a discussion as to whether one-cent papers should 
raise their price to two cents or more, is merely academic so 
long as advertisers can afford to pay rates that will show a 
profit on the investment in white paper, news features, and 
equipment. When the point is reached in merchandising at 
which the advertisers cannot afford to pay a rate that will 
yield this profit, the revenue from circulation will have to 
increase. If advertising rates are too high, or as high as 
they can be advanced, and the cost of white paper and news 
service and equipment continues to advance, the only alterna- 
tive is to cut down the news service or to advance the price 
to the subscriber. 



36 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Paying for Advertising News 

Theoretically, a subscriber is asked to pay only for the 
news. The advertiser is present as an uninvited third party 
so far as the subscriber is concerned. His presence is a 
private matter between himself and the newspaper. But 
actually, the subscriber derives a real benefit from his presence. 
It is as important under modern conditions that the reader be 
placed in contact with merchandising news as with the news of 
local and world events. 

Thus, if the view is taken that advertising is news, sub- 
stance is given to the argument that the subscriber should 
pay for the privilege of reading merchandising news. He 
will profit from knowing that a suit can be bought at 25 per 
cent reduction from the regular price, just as in knowing the 
day's work in Congress. If bulk alone is considered, the title 
should be changed from " news " paper to " ad " paper. 

Circulation Revenue vs. Advertising Revenue 

The adjustment between revenue from circulation and 
revenue from advertising is one requiring the best business 
judgment that can be brought to bear upon it. In the face of 
the agitation to increase the circulation revenue, papers like 
The Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe have reduced 
their selling price from two cents to one cent, showing that 
certain leading and successful publishers believe that it is more 
important to maintain a large audience for advertisers than to 
have a smaller audience at a higher selling price. 

The Boston Globe announces that following its reduction 
to one cent its circulation increased by 100,000 copies. As this 
addition of circulation could not have been made in any other 
way at anywhere near the same cost, it stands as a circulation 
promotion effort that has been justified by results, provided 
the advertising revenue makes a corresponding gain. 

Advertising revenue can increase in two ways — either by 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 37 

an enlarged volume at present rates, or by a higher rate. This 
addition to The Globe's circulation will make its space a more 
profitable buy for advertisers, and the paper's solicitors can 
argue either for more space at the old rate, or for the same 
space at a higher rate. 

Ratio of News Columns to Advertising Columns 

Some newspapers are saving the cost of white paper and 
mailing charges by crowding the news out with advertising. 
That is, rather than increase the size, they will cut down the 
space customarily allotted to news and fill it with advertising. 
The New York Evening World — or Journal — is on some days 
so crowded with advertising that the front page contains 
nearly all the news the reader gets ; the second page is fairly 
well divided between news and advertising; and the rest of 
the paper, with the exception of the editorial, magazine, and 
sport pages, is all advertising with a ruffle or fringe of news. 
The proportion is about four-fifths advertising to one-fifth 
news. 

Relation between Price and Clientele 

It is not true that a reduction in price would be advan- 
tageous everywhere. The Washington Star and The Indian- 
apolis News selling at two cents a copy cover their fields so 
well that it is doubtful if the purchasing power of their sub- 
scription lists would be greatly increased by a reduction to one 
cent. Competition is not so keen in these two cities as in 
Boston, Chicago, New York, and other cities where there are 
three or more evening papers from which to select. The Star 
and The News each have one competitor in the evening field. 
The Boston Globe had five or more competitors when it re- 
duced its price, and The Chicago Tribune three or more. 

Where there are several papers bidding for the same 
readers, it is a question of influencing selection, not of creat- 



38 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

ing demand. The only way one paper can get a reader is to 
take him from some other paper. Hence, the difference of 
one cent would be vital in influencing selection where it might 
not be important in creating demand. A person who has not 
taken an evening paper would not quibble over the difference 
between ten cents and six cents a week, whereas a reader of 
a one-cent evening paper balks at changing to a two-cent paper. 
His selection therefore can be influenced by price perhaps 
more powerfully than by any other factor. 

The selling price of a newspaper determines, along broad 
lines, the character of readers it will attract. In New York 
the people who buy The Herald and The Post at three cents 
a copy are persons of means and social distinction. The same 
is true of The Sun, morning edition. Certain classes want to 
pay high for their newspapers because they pay high for 
everything else they consume and naturally associate price 
with quality. The Herald elects to appeal to this class and 
its price serves to drive off readers in other strata of society. 

Some newspapers, while reaching the highest type of news- 
paper readers, make an appeal also to intermediate types. The 
New York Times and The Chicago Tribune are notable ex- 
amples. These papers have shown that the great middle class 
of Americans, those that are well-to-do and comparatively 
rich, prefer a one-cent paper so long as it presents the editorial 
and news capacity that they desire. It would be a debatable 
assertion that The Herald, selling at three cents, is a better 
newspaper than The Times, The World, The American, or 
The Tribune, selling at one cent. The individuality of these 
papers, combined with selling price, differentiates them from 
The Herald in a way that gives them substantially different 
readers, though relatively they all have some of every class 
of readers. 

On the Pacific coast, in Los Angeles and San Francisco, 
some of the papers sell at five cents daily. This is not due 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 39 

to a deliberate policy so much as to the generally higher cost 
of everything on the Coast. Prices there are normally higher 
than Atlantic coast prices. The Cincinnati Enquirer is an in- 
teresting example of a five-cent paper in the East. The 
Enquirer undoubtedly could increase its circulation many times 
by a reduction to one cent, but it is not likely that the ad- 
vertising revenue would keep pace with the circulation. The 
Enquirer, like The New York Herald, elects to maintain its 
individuality through a high price. The Enquirer is $14 a 
year by mail for the daily edition. 

The circulation manager is interested in the selling price 
of the paper he is selling because it determines the class of 
buyers to be approached and enlarges or restricts his field of 
operations. He should be able to tell, through accurate knowl- 
edge of his field, whether an increase, or decrease, in selling 
price would cause a favorable readjustment of the revenue 
from advertising to that from circulation. 

Purchasing Power of Subscribers 

The desirability of quality or quantity circulation is deter- 
mined by the purchasing power of the readers and not by 
mere numbers. A newspaper might assemble 300,000 readers 
who would not represent as much purchasing power as another 
paper's 100,000 readers, for certain commodities. Advertisers, 
consequently, must study the character of circulation which a 
paper has in order to know whether its readers have a purchas- 
ing power commensurate with the commodities offered for sale. 
Inasmuch as department stores usually carry merchandise ap- 
pealing to all classes, department store advertising usually is 
found in all kinds of mediums, though even here the ad- 
vertising is concentrated in those particular mediums which 
present readers in a class with the main merchandising policy 
of the store. 

Thus, the only reason a paper may have for indefinitely 



40 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

expanding its sales is the assumption that this element of pur- 
chasing power will be strengthened. All papers carry many 
readers who are economically useless to advertisers. That is 
why some of the papers with the largest circulation cannot 
maintain their advertising rates above Y 7 or % of a cent per 
line per 1,000. Magazines with a national circulation of like 
proportions get from y 2 to % cent per line per 1,000, because 
the purchasing power of their readers is greater. 

Economic Limit of Circulation 

In Chapters V and VI the subject of adjusting volume of 
circulation to advertising rates will be considered further. 
It is sufficient to point out here that many periodicals and some 
newspapers are endeavoring to determine just when they 
should pause in promotion work so as not to carry circulation 
for which no advertising revenue can be collected. To carry 
100,000 or more circulation in excess of the advertising rates 
is a drain upon resources that they wish to avoid. At the 
same time it is a delicate matter for a publication to " rest on 
its oars." The downward trend can start so easily ! 

4. Typographical Dress 

Some papers are such a confusing jumble of headlines, ad- 
vertisements, and pictures that one involuntarily reacts from 
them. Others are so beautifully groomed that it is a pleasure 
to peruse them. 

The New York Times, The Baltimore News, and The 
Chicago Tribune are models in the latter class. The paper 
is clean and white ; the advertisements are set with discrimina- 
tion and artistic sense ; and the news is distributed in relation 
to the advertising in such a way as to make the least eye- 
strain. This is in keeping with the instinct for order in most 
minds. 

Our intense city life has produced a correspondingly in- 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 4* 

tense mental life, and for this reason some newspapers delib- 
erately shape their headlines and typographical dress so as 
to emphasize and be in keeping with this mental condition. 
The great black streamer headlines, a patch of red, a choppy 
sea of small headlines, and pictures interspersed are in the 
same rhythm as the subway and the noisy, bustling street 
corners. It is not strange that the city multitudes buy papers 
which conform to their natural mental element, even though 
that element involves the pace that kills. 

The circulation manager has a positive interest in this 
factor affecting circulation. He should know the effect that 
typographical dress has upon people. It may be that a change 
in this respect would make his sales proposition immeasurably 
easier, for slovenly typography repels some people like 
neglected finger-nails. People are subconsciously affected by 
these factors, and though few stop to analyze them, they 
operate steadily to win or repel trade. It is the circulation 
manager's function to know definitely the pulling or repelling 
power of typographical dress, and if in its present condition 
it be a handicap, to improve it. 

5. Color and Quality of Paper 

A number of highly successful newspapers use pink, green, 
or other colors in their issues, and those which do not use 
colored print in the main edition, frequently do so in the sport- 
ing extra. There is a psychological basis for using colors. 

The paper is identified instantly by a color. The regular 
customer is guided by the distinctive color and the transient 
customer is attracted by the contrast. On the other hand, 
many persons think of a colored paper as being cheap and so 
avoid them. The eye-strain of reading some colored papers, 
especially when the ink runs light, is another adverse factor. 
Black and white is the best combination for eye-comfort, par- 
ticularly when going home at night on a street car. 



42 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The New York Evening Telegram is a pleasing type of 
colored paper. On a news-stand or in the arm of a newsboy 
it may be identified instantly. Every circulation manager must 
determine by experiment the value of colored news, and papers 
in small towns doubtless would find any other color than white 
a detriment. The overwhelming use of white paper will 
justify the rule that colored news is valuable in proportion to 
the rarity with which it is used. 

The various grades of white news have their influence in 
determining selection. The New York World, morning edi- 
tion, is a handsomely groomed paper typographically, but the 
muddy-colored white news, in the author's judgment, has been 
a distinct drawback. The World printed on the same kind of 
paper as The Times would be a wonderful improvement. 
However, its managers doubtless know their clientele well 
enough to figure the advantages of one grade of news over 
another. The average circulation manager will do well to 
argue for as good a quality of paper as can be afforded, for 
expense incurred in this way will yield gratifying results 
through the increased eye-comfort to readers. 



In this chapter only the larger factors affecting circulation 
have been discussed. The circulation manager is a victim of 
these factors if they are decided adversely to his judgment, or 
he is a beneficiary of them if his publisher is a competent 
man. 

The gist of the whole chapter is this. The more efficient 
the circulation manager makes his department within the scope 
of operations prescribed for him, the more emphasis will he 
place upon the editorial, advertising, or other deficiencies that 
retard circulation growth. 

Some publishers and circulation managers will say that 
these are factors about which the circulation manager need not 
concern himself. And yet, if he undertakes to achieve success 



FACTORS AFFECTING CIRCULATION 43 

by ignoring the big, fundamental forces at work in the publish- 
ing field, he will be like a ship floundering in a storm without a 
chart of the rocks and reefs to be avoided. 

The circulation manager may not be able to change the 
publisher's policies in these respects, but he certainly should 
know what bearing they have upon his operations, and if 
possible, enlist their tremendous powers in behalf of his pro- 
motion and sales plans. 



CHAPTER IV 

MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The Ideal Publishing Organization 

The ideal publishing organization has three A No. I ex- 
ecutives below the publisher, or the business manager. They 
head respectively the editorial, advertising, and circulation de- 
partments. The following chart shows the customary dis- 
tribution of authority in the larger daily newspapers of 
America : 



PUBLISHER 

or 

BUSINESS 

MANAGER 




Chart I. Distribution of Authority in Daily Newspaper Office 

It is true that in many organizations the circulation man- 
ager does not have the equality of rank with the managing 
editor and advertising manager indicated in the chart, but 
this condition is passing. As stated in a preceding chapter the 

44 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 45 

circulation manager is everywhere winning his way to full 
equality. 

The reason for this is his unrivalled opportunity for observ- 
ing the value of every phase and feature of newspaper man- 
agement. The slightest rise or fall in circulation attracts his 
attention first. And the fluctuations in circulation are a sure 
barometer of calm or storm in the publishing sea. By actual 
contact with the consuming public he is in a position to know 
the causes underlying these variations. 

No other man in the organization is so close to the public. 
The editor knows only in a general way that certain features 
affect circulation favorably or unfavorably, his position being 
too aloof from the reader for him to know the precise whys 
and wherefores. The advertising manager is even farther 
removed from the public, and the business manager or 
publisher can know only through reports from subordinates 
and general observation. 

Qualifications of the Circulation Manager 

The circulation manager who thinks that his work begins 
only after the paper is off the press, and who interprets his 
job in terms of mail trains and carrier boys, is not the type 
which will be called to fill a vacancy in the business manager's 
chair. 

Breadth of vision is the capacity that distinguishes Amer- 
ica's foremost circulation managers today from the type that 
never gets out of the basement. They do not leave all original 
thinking and planning to the editor, business manager, or 
publishers, or content themselves with directing the purely 
routine work of distribution. 

Undoubtedly the modern circulation manager must be ex- 
pert in the technical details of the department. But he must 
know how to get this dough off his fingers into the hands of 
subordinates, and to spend the major portion of his time in 



46 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

planning and directing. When publishers pay as high as 
$5,000 to $7,500 a year for circulation managers, they are 
buying creative ability. If the manager is so glued down to 
the merely mechanical operations that he cannot stop to 
analyze policies and results, he may retain his position — and 
many such do — but he will not get the big prizes in the organi- 
zation which are within his reach if he works with his head 
as well as with his hands and feet. 

Now, to condemn a feature or a policy for no other reason 
than that the apparent result was unpopular is the usual rule, 
but it is a blind rule. Features fail because of the manner 
of presentation as well as from intrinsic demerits, so that the 
circulation manager should know by analysis and close ob- 
servation of the readers, exactly where the trouble lies. 

He is the only one so situated as to be able to make this 
scientific study. By making it he lifts his function to a plane 
of greater usefulness to the publisher and editor. He thereby 
separates the origin of an idea from its practical operation and 
establishes a new standard of exactness and system in the 
organization. 

Departmental Co-operation 

The alert circulation manager is vitally interested in every 
factor that enters into his publication. His constant query 
is, what effect will it have upon circulation? This is true 
just as much when the publisher adopts a new typographical 
dress for the paper as when the editor adds a new comic 
feature. 

It does not follow that every factor should be condemned 
if it affects circulation adversely. A decrease in circulation 
through a new policy may have compensatory advantages in 
other directions, as, for example, when a vigorous stand for 
a good issue repels some readers for a time, but by increasing 
the paper's reputation for conscientious dealing strengthens it 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 47 

among people of character. The paper thereby builds the 
subtle quality of prestige which is the stabilizer of all circula- 
tions. 

It may be accepted, then, as a truism, that the circulation 
manager should be in close touch with the managing editor at 
all times. It is not sufficient for him to know the important 
news of the day after the paper is off the press. Where the 
managing editor decides upon an extra, he usually gives the 
circulation manager as much notice of it as time permits, but 
further than this most managing editors do not go. 

How to utilize the sales possibilities of the circulation de- 
partment is a subject to which managing editors have given 
little thought. The publisher, or business manager, will find 
a profitable vein of efficiency to develop in co-ordinating the 
efforts of the news and circulation departments, instead of 
allowing them, as in most offices, to move in entirely separate 
spheres. 

Only in a comparatively few offices is intensive work 
attempted along this line, that is to say, few offices work 
harmoniously to get the maximum benefits from every feature 
of whatever importance. There are, however, some news- 
paper publishing organizations in which team work on the 
part of the editorial, advertising, and circulation departments 
is admirably apparent. If the advertising department starts 
a campaign to increase the classified business, the editorial and 
circulation departments are consulted and shape their plans 
to make the whole force of the newspaper get behind the 
campaign. 

To get the full benefits from this sort of intensive work, 
the whole newspaper organization must be trained to act in 
unison, and to see everything not only from the narrow de- 
partmental viewpoint, but from the perspective of the whole 
publishing enterprise. Solicitors, carriers, reporters, will soon 
grasp the principle and put it into operation upon their own 



48 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

initiative in many ways. Among periodicals, Today's Maga- 
zine has a policy of printing fiction and feature articles that will 
harmonize the reader's thought with the advertising in its 
columns. Needless to say, this policy requires the utmost 
nicety of judgment to give the reader a square deal. 

Intensive Circulation Work 

By establishing a rule that the circulation manager is to be 
furnished proofs of all news simultaneously with the editorial 
rooms, departmental co-operation can be assured. The cir- 
culation manager then would have not only a warning of the 
" break " in the day's events, but would find many lesser items 
which could be exploited with gratifying results. Advance 
notice of special features offers the same opportunity. 

A big fire on the East side will have an interest for the 
people of that section out of all proportion to the general 
interest in the occurrence. The news-stands or routes in 
that section should be supplied with whatever extra copies may 
be needed and the circulation manager alert to opportunity 
should have his delivery men tell each dealer as the bundle is 
dropped that the paper has an especially fine account of the 
fire. 

The carrier boy who has not been able to get a certain 
house on his route to subscribe will find this an excellent time 
to leave a sample copy there with the same hint. Enough of 
the dealers will repeat this to customers to have an appreciable 
effect, and it will stamp the fact in the minds of the people 
reached that this paper is a live wire. 

A " beat " on the rival paper of an important news story 
offers much greater circulation opportunities than merely in- 
creasing the street sales. If the circulation manager has suffi- 
cient notice, and if he is like The Schenectady Union-Star 
which keeps a list of non-readers, he can score heavily by 
leaving marked copies at prospects' homes and so emphasize 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 49 

the news superiority of his paper. The editor will see to it 
that the paper's regular readers are impressed with the scoop, 
but only the circulation manager can make the point with non- 
readers. 

This idea of intensive circulation work can be applied to 
a hundred news items in a small, neighborhood way and so 
build up the circulation. " The people of the West side liked 
the feature story of their Improvement League," the circula- 
tion manager informs the managing editor, and he knows this 
because two or three new subscribers appeared on the routes 
in that section right after the story appeared, and because the 
carriers so reported. 

The modern idea in farming is intensive work in a re- 
stricted area, and the same idea is inspiring circulation mana- 
gers. They are watching the corners ; stopping the small 
leaks in such items as " returns " ; utilizing the sales possibil- 
ities of the news columns ; finding the natural home territory 
and working that for all it is worth. The sum total of these 
small savings and pick-ups may swing the balance to the right 
side. While no staggering results may be expected, the total 
benefits will justify the exertion many times over. This work 
should go hand-in-hand with the larger vision of circulation 
management. 

Promoting the Publisher's Policy 

The circulation manager must get the publisher's viewpoint 
and then think along that line. Even if the contests, pre- 
miums, and similar promotion measures so useful to the cir- 
culation manager, are prohibited, he need not feel restricted in 
his opportunities for creative work. He has just as much 
chance as the editor to know what the publisher's policy is 
and to suggest features in keeping with that policy. 

If the publisher eschews regular premiums, the circulation 
manager's task is then, as ever, to make suggestions that will 



50 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

promote the paper's policy, whatever it may be. If, as in the 
case of The New York Times, beautiful pictures are approved, 
the circulation manager should endeavor to know the pictures 
that will make the greatest appeal. At least he will make it 
his business to know definitely the business-getting value of 
the various pictures used beyond the value indicated by the 
sales of the edition. 

Did the pictures catch the eye, only to be discarded after 
a few days, or did the readers retain them permanently? The 
circulation manager knows that a picture retained and framed 
is a constant advertisement of the paper, to be pointed out by 
the possessor to his friends with an approving mention of the 
paper's name, while a picture discarded has infinitely less 
value. Are bright colors more effective with the paper's class 
of readers than the more artistic, subdued effects? What is 
the average artistic sense of the people sought? What sub- 
jects interest them most? These questions are obvious and 
are sufficient to emphasize the point. 

Keeping in Touch with Readers 

The circulation manager naturally should have the most 
highly specialized knowledge of the people sought by the 
publisher. Of course, all publishers like to think that they 
are producing " the great American newspaper " which every 
class of citizens does, or ought, to read; but in actual practice 
every newspaper has an individuality that clearly limits its 
sales possibilities. 

The Indianapolis News has an admirable and elaborate 
system of reports for ascertaining the reasons why people do 
not continue as readers. Often the trouble is astonishingly 
trivial, from the paper's viewpoint, but monumental to the 
reader. Again, the trouble is too deep-seated to be overcome. 
But by knowing the facts many readers are retained whom other 
papers allow to depart unprotested. 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 5 1 

The Appeal of Special Features 

One reader may like the paper for the baseball " dope." 
Another may like the humorous " colyum." The ginger spirit 
in the editorials may attract a third, and the recipes on the 
woman's page may hold a housewife's subscription. Few cir- 
culation managers realize fully the extent to which readers are 
governed in the selection of a paper by special features. 

In New York this is notably apparent, as it is in all cities 
where there are half dozen or more papers. The sporting 
gossip and cartoons in The World or The Mail, the bright 
editorial paragraphs in The Telegram, the able war editorials 
in The Sun, the spicy news treatment in The Journal, the 
home-circle features of The Globe, and so on through the list 
are particular features or departments which make the in- 
dividuality of the paper and attract a reading clientele. Many 
persons buy several papers a day just to get the special features 
peculiar to each. 

If a paper could be edited that combined the special at- 
tractions of the various New York papers, Paris would not 
then be the only city to have newspapers with a million and 
more circulation daily. Still, no great American city's com- 
posite population could be served by one or a few papers. 
The conglomeration of nationalities and the gradations of 
mental tastes require variety of news treatment. 

Holding the Floating Patronage 

Tastes change, and a vast floating patronage is the problem 
that keeps circulation managers constantly devising new 
schemes to divert the current into their own channels. This 
subject is developed at length in Chapter XIII, " Special 
Reader-Interest Features," but the principle itself may be 
stated thus: Lead public interest in everything. The news 
columns will furnish the inspiration as a rule, but it is well 
to watch trade papers and scientific journals for new inven- 



52 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

tions, ideas, and developments which sometimes get into the 
news dispatches tardily. 

No matter what people are thinking and talking about, the 
newspaper should lead the thought and discussion. The cir- 
culation manager should make it his business to keep his hand 
on the public pulse and supplement the work of the editor 
with timely suggestions. Each new thing is utilized as it 
comes along. A while back the papers were holding automo- 
bile races when the automobile was first attaining its popular- 
ity ; then came aeroplane meets ; then the moving pictures ; the 
dance craze was another example. Tomorrow will find the 
latest fad or interest receiving similar exploitation. 

Effect of European War upon Circulation 

The European War accomplished for newspapers in 
America what circulation managers have spent much energy 
and a vast amount of money in trying to do. It induced people 
to read other papers than those they were accustomed to buy. 
The desire to get all sides of the war, to read everything 
pertaining to it, caused people to buy papers with which they 
had slight acquaintance, and many found that the papers new 
to them had features very much to their liking. 

The result was beneficial to all the papers. While the 
war fever was high, people bought half a dozen or more papers 
a day, for, fear that their favorite might not cover the subject 
fully. Inasmuch as every paper is willing, or professes to be 
willing, to rest upon its merits, the circulation manager's task 
of inducing the first trial was made easy by this supreme event. 
New circulation work practically ceased with all city dailies. 
Hundreds of solicitors were laid off in New York, premiums 
were dropped, and the promotion companies had to sit down 
and wait until normal conditions should return. 

The effect has been to add permanent readers to all of the 
papers. Of course, this had to be a swap, for nowadays the 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 53 

only way for one paper to get a reader is to take him from 
another paper. The general shifting and shake-up, neverthe- 
less, was invigorating to all circulations. The people in all 
our large cities now know the qualities and individualities of 
their home papers. 

Advertising for Circulation 

Until the last few years newspapers thought their own 
columns offered all the means of publicity of themselves that 
was necessary. The idea of using other mediums of publicity 
was repugnant. What is the situation now? 

Newspapers now have a regular advertising policy, just 
like department stores or manufacturers. They have learned 
that advertising is as much a necessity for them as for Uneeda 
Biscuit. The amount of selling they can do by advertising in 
their own columns is insufficient, and so they use other news- 
papers, magazines, bill-boards, street-car cards, electric signs 
— in short every medium of publicity that any advertiser uses. 

This, of course, is expensive and calls for a new theory 
of circulation management. A newspaper publisher now has 
to provide for an advertising appropriation just as the Victor 
Talking Machine Company must. He may or may not en- 
trust the expenditure of this fund to his circulation manager, 
but it is none the less the latter's function, and in the larger 
organizations he has full control over the appropriation. 

The New York Evening Post is a class newspaper selling 
at three cents and had a net paid circulation in January, 191 5, 
of about 25,000 daily. It is noted for the authenticity of its 
financial news and for the generally high-class treatment of 
all other news. The people who read it are the old families of 
New York and people of means or intellectual attainments. 
The Post decided that there are many more persons in New 
York who want a newspaper of its kind than actually buy it. 
Among its promotion measures under Emil M. Scholz, a busj- 



54 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

ness manager who, by the way, has come up through the cir- 
culation end, was advertising. 

Through street-car cards, advertisements in other news- 
papers, and similar advertising, he has been telling the New 
York public about The Post, and why they can afford to pay 
three cents for it. If he had limited this selling campaign to 
the columns of The Post, it would be much like the man who 
tried to lift himself by his boot straps. The general publicity 
has introduced The Post to many new readers. It will in- 
troduce it to everyone who naturally wants that type of news- 
paper; and The Post understands that when it has obtained 
its audience there will still be several millions of New Yorkers 
left for the other papers. 

There are innumerable examples of this policy all over 
America now. When The New York World and The New 
York American were scrapping over the Katzen jammer Kids 
comic feature, each having the same series drawn by different 
artists, they spread themselves over all the bill-boards in New 
York, in street cars, and elsewhere to impress the public with 
their respective claims. 

The World regularly uses the bill-boards in the elevated 
stations to emphasize features in its Sunday edition. The 
New York Tribune in its notable revival campaign begun in 
1913 was everywhere conspicuous with its bill-boards and 
signs. Philadelphia papers, especially The Ledger, use signs 
along the railroads leading into that city to advertise them- 
selves. 

Whenever any paper gets a particularly interesting feature, 
it now shouts that fact from the housetops — its own housetop 
first, but from other skyscrapers too. In cities of 20,000 popu- 
lation and up, the papers are following the same policy. It 
has crept into some weekly papers. The New York Tribune, 
when it started a series on clean advertising, even went into 
national magazines to announce the feature. 



MODERN CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 55 

It all comes back to the point repeatedly made in this 
book, namely, that newspaper publishing is a manufacturing 
enterprise and that it has the same selling problem that con- 
fronts any other manufacturer. It must be marketed by the 
same general principles. And the use of advertising, which it 
has so long urged upon others, it has been forced to adopt. 
Modern competition has brought this to pass. 

Scope of Circulation Manager's Duties 

It may appear to some readers that the scope of the circula- 
tion manager's duties as here presented is too extensive ; that 
he is advised to perform services which are solely the function 
of the editor or publisher. 

The assumption is that the circulation manager will be dis- 
creet in this conception of his position ; that he will not branch 
out into these broader functions until the practical routine of 
his department is thoroughly in hand, for if mail trains are 
being missed and carriers are neglecting their routes, a pub- 
lisher will have little patience with gratuitous suggestions on 
general policies. 

But until the circulation manager takes just such a widened 
view of his office, until he sees the circulation problem from 
every angle, he cannot attain to the maximum usefulness to 
the publisher, or qualify for promotion. And it should be 
remembered that in the big, successful newspaper organizations 
of today the circulation managers are performing all the func- 
tions described herein, and many others which are not covered. 

Regardless of the origin of the factors that affect circula- 
tion, the manager of this department should look upon himself 
as something more than a machine to put them into operation. 
A sales manager's business is to sell a product as it is turned 
out, but he would be derelict in his duty if he neglected to 
observe wherein the product failed to please the consumer, or 
was inferior to a competitive product. 



5 6 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The publisher, editor, business manager, and advertising 
manager may be watching these same points, but this does not 
absolve the circulation manager from doing so too. They can- 
not possibly get the intimate experience and observation that 
he does. 

The circulation manager will determine his worth by ( i ) 
an efficiently conducted department on the purely practical side, 
and (2) by the ideas he advances which help the paper to a 
larger success. 



CHAPTER V 

PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 






GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS; ADVERTISING 
AND CIRCULATION REVENUE 

Fundamental Questions 

Consider the situation of a newspaper circulation manager 
who has just entered upon his duties in a field with which he 
is unfamiliar. Some of the fundamental questions he will want 
answered right at the start are as follows : 

1. What ratio does the revenue from circulation bear to 

the revenue from advertising? 

2. What is the mailing cost per copy, daily and Sunday? 

3. Is the circulation normal for this field, figuring in the 

city and retail trading radius one subscriber to five 
persons of population? 

4. Is the advertising rate normal for the present circula- 

tion? 

5. What ratio does the city circulation bear to the coun- 

try circulation? Is it normal? 

6. What percentage of the subscribers are renewing? 

7. What is the cost of obtaining a renewal as compared 

with the cost of new business ? 

8. How much new business must be produced to keep 

the circulation normal? 

9. What is the loss from bad accounts? 

10. What percentage of circulation revenue is allowable 
for promotion work? 
57 



58 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

ii. What is the percentage of "overprint" and "re- 
turns "? 

There are many other questions the new circulation man- 
ager will want answered from the books, but when the fore- 
going questions have been answered, a fairly broad idea of the 
selling problem that confronts him will be obtained. 

A list of questions similar to the above was mailed to cir- 
culation managers on large and small papers in different sec- 
tions of the country with interesting results. The replies, or 
lack of replies, were an index to the situation in many offices. 
Some replied that the questions were such as to prohibit a 
discussion of them outside their own offices ; others, that it 
would require too much work to answer them ; others, that if 
they could frame intelligent answers they would write later; 
and some replied with the desired information. 

Standardization of Circulation Requirements 

It would be egotistic to announce anything more than an 
approximate standard for these problems. Conditions are ex- 
tremely chaotic, varied, and intangible. Still, significant prog- 
ress is being made toward standardization, and it is only a 
question of time until circulation management will be as sci- 
entific as banking. Better accounting is apparent in many 
offices. Publishers are learning that the circulation manager 
should know the whole financial situation of the paper in order 
to shape his plans intelligently. 

Hence, the circulation manager is not always to blame for 
not knowing offhand the answers to the questions stated, be- 
cause some publishers and business managers heretofore have 
considered it impertinent for him to want to know. If you 
asked E. P. Hopwood, of The Portland Oregonian, any of the 
foregoing questions, he could tell you instantly, and he is typical 
of the live wires everywhere. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 59 

Circulation Managers 

Circulation managers refuse to work in the dark, or in a 
niche. They need a perspective as much as any officer in the 
organization. They make it their business to know how their 
department fits into the general scheme of newspaper organ- 
ization, and what relation their activities bear to the activities 
of the editorial and advertising departments. " The eye can- 
not say of the ear, I have no need of thee." 

Unless a standard is known, the circulation manager is 
working in the dark. It is not sufficient to say that he is work- 
ing to bring the circulation to a point that will justify an 
advertising rate which will yield a profit on the newspaper 
investment. He must know, approximately, if not absolutely, 
what the ratio' of revenue from circulation should be for his 
particular field, and this can be known only oy understanding 
what the standard is for any given field and for the general 
field. 

Locating the Weak Points 

Of course, the first thing a circulation manager will do in 
a new position is to determine to what extent the routine 
operations of the department are responsible for the showing. 
The personnel of the department may be inefficient ; the esprit 
de corps may be lamentably weak; the reports and general 
accounting may be slipshod ; the service to the subscribers may 
be half-hearted; in short, the sales organization and distribut- 
ing force may be so much junk. 

When the department has been brought to a plane of effi- 
ciency so that good service is assured, so that collections are 
at a maximum, so that every person who is interested in the 
kind of paper he is selling has had an opportunity to buy it, 
the circulation manager will be in a position to estimate to what 
extent the competitor's superiority, or inferiority, is due to 
editorial or other causes of a general nature outside his con- 



60 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

trol. Thus the publisher may find that he has been spending 
money for news and features of neutral quality, and a revolu- 
tion in buying syndicate matter is likely to follow this discov- 
ery. The managing editor will then learn which features 
actually sell papers and which merely fill up the columns. 

It will be interesting to consider in detail the questions 
given in the list on page 57. 

Advertising and Circulation Revenue 

Revenue Fluctuations 

The following table is interesting as showing the upward 
trend of advertising revenue, and the downward trend of cir- 
culation revenue by decades for American newspapers : 

Total From From Percentage 

Years Revenue Advertising Circulation Adv. Circ. 

1910 $232,993,094 $148,554,392 $84,438,702 63.76 36.24 

1900 . 175,789,610 95,861,127 79,928,483 54.53 4547 

1890 143,586,448 71,243,361 72,343,087 49.61 50.39 

1880 89,009,074 39J36,3o6 49,872,768 43.85 56.15 

A study of these figures shows that the revenue from adver- 
tising and the revenue from circulation were approximately 
even in 1890. Before that newspapers derived their larger 
revenue from circulation, but after that from advertising. 
This change is coincident with the advent of the penny news- 
paper, the one-cent-a-pound mailing rate, the spool news print, 
the high-speed press, and the discernment of the merchandising 
possibilities in advertising. 

Meeting Rising Costs 

At present, though no figures are available, the ratio of 
advertising revenue to circulation revenue is more markedly 
in favor of advertising than in 1910. Publishers have felt the 
economic danger in this situation and have met it variously. 
They sought to decrease cost by getting news print on the free 



ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION REVENUE 61 

list. In this they were successful and their success has un- 
doubtedly given a new lease of life to penny papers, and ena- 
bled the American people to continue to enjoy the phenomenal 
values they receive in their newspapers at a nominal cost. The 
loss in tariff revenue to the Government from placing news on 
the free list is more than made up by this consideration. 

Publishers have faced a steadily advancing manufacturing 
cost for white paper, for labor and other factory items, not 
to mention the ever increasing appetite of the public for news. 
The telegraph, telephone, cable, and wireless inventions have 
opened avenues of news that constantly increase the cost of 
news service. At the same time the standards of feature and 
art work are rising in quality and cost. But both branches 
of the consuming public — the subscriber and the advertiser — 
resist any effort to make them pay more for the two products, 
news and circulation. 

The publisher, therefore, is caught between the increasing 
cost of manufacturing and the difficulty of raising the selling 
price of his commodities. Welcome and temporary relief came 
in the removal of the tariff on white paper, but in the nature 
of things this is insufficient. Wherever it is possible, publish- 
ers are raising the cost to the subscriber from one to two cents. 
In the larger cities this is a precarious step, but there seems 
to be no reason why papers with only one competitor, or two, 
should not be 10 cents a week instead of 6 cents. The Tren- 
ton (N. J.) Times raised to two cents a copy without any 
appreciable loss, and even if a loss occurs, the advertiser will 
not be in a position to object. 

The Advertisers' Attitude 

Advertisers are showing an enlightened consideration of 
this newspaper problem. In the first place, they would rather 
that a newspaper increase its revenue from the subscribers 
than from themselves, even though the numerical circulation is 



62 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

decreased thereby. But this is not the only way that adver- 
tisers are willing to see a newspaper's revenue increase and 
expenses decrease. 

What advertisers, particularly local advertisers, are inter- 
ested in, is the purchasing power of the paper's subscribers 
within the retail trading radius. Hence, all the mail and dis- 
tant circulation is economically useless to them. Why, then, 
cannot a paper simply lop off this circulation ? It costs a great 
deal to get and is a dead circulation loss after it is booked; 
nor does it yield purchasing power, except possibly to general 
advertisers. This is considered further in Chapters VI and X. 

Adjusting Circulation and Advertising Revenue 

As stated in Chaper III, " General Factors Affecting Cir- 
culation," the adjustment of revenue from circulation to the 
revenue from advertising is the supreme problem in publishing. 
A blanket assertion that all papers should immediately increase 
their sale or subscription prices cannot be substantiated, either 
in logic or experience. For, as pointed out, some papers are 
actually decreasing the circulation revenue and yet are making 
good. It is an individual problem with the proviso, that the 
smaller the competition a paper faces, the stronger the reasons 
for increasing the price. 

The publisher of The Chicago News hit off the truth 
when he stated in a letter in The Fourth Estate, that so long 
as a newspaper selling at one cent is making money, any 
agitation to increase the price will make slow headway. He 
then stated that in 1914 The News paid half a million dollars 
more for white paper alone than the entire revenue from cir- 
culation. The News, receiving only 40 cents an agate line for 
advertising, run of paper, for 400,000 circulation, was in a 
position to speak authoritatively. Here the advertiser is get- 
ting too much for his money, whatever the subscriber may 
receive ! 



ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION REVENUE 63 

The News is typical of all big city newspapers. Its white 
paper bills, when it reaches a certain number of pages per 
issue, consume more than the entire circulation revenue. On 
the other extreme is the small city daily which is glad to add 
a name to the subscription list because a profit is made from 
circulation. 

The Paducah (Ky.) Evening Sun is an 8-page, 7-column 
daily in a city of 25,000 population. Its circulation is around 
6,500. By carrier the rate is 10 cents a week, and by mail 
$3 a year. The Sun runs eight papers to the pound, including 
wrappers, and the mailing cost is therefore 39 cents for 312 
issues. The cost of white paper, figuring overprint, waste, ink, 
and free copies, is 2% cents a pound, or approximately $1 a 
year per subscriber. Thus the cost of paper and mailing is 
$1.39, leaving a gross profit of $1.61. Out of this profit must 
come mailing room and other departmental charges plus the 
general overhead. It is evident that The Sun can take profit- 
ably all the circulation that comes its way. It can even allow 
a selling cost of 50 per cent, or $1.50 per subscriber, and still 
have 1 1 cents gross profit ! 

• On the other hand, consider The Indianapolis News. It 
runs from 16 to 32 pages daily, or say, an average of 24 pages. 
A paper of this size will weigh 5.25 ounces, or 3.04 copies to 
the pound. This makes the mailing cost for 312 days $1.02; 
and at 2% cents a pound for white paper, the paper bill will 
be $2.55. Total for postage and paper is $3.57. The subscrip- 
tion for the mail edition is $3 a year, showing a deficit of 57 
cents per subscriber. To this must be added mailing room 
and other departmental charges plus the general overhead. It 
is evident that The News takes circulation at a loss and makes 
it up out of advertising revenue. The selling expense further 
increases the deficit. 

Between these two examples there are papers which do bet- 
ter or worse, or break even. The figures quoted are approxi- 



64 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

mations made by the author and are not from the publishers' 
books, but they show closely enough the circulation problem 
under consideration. By knowing the mailing and white paper 
costs, and by averaging the size of a paper, it is possible to 
reach fairly accurate figures about any newspaper. 

The point of the comparison is this : Profit or loss on 
circulation is determined by the amount of advertising carried, 
for it is the advertising which increases the size and weight 
and so increases the mailing and paper charges. Therefore, 
it is just that the advertiser should bear the cost in the ratio 
that he does. 

Production Costs 

The accompanying table shows the weight in ounces of 
papers running from 8 to 32 pages, the number to the pound, 
the cost of mailing for 312 days, the cost of paper during the 
same period, and the total cost of these two items : 

~3 £c $& ^§. *> 



No. of bfi c £ 3 bJ0 * Z Ph .2 g 

Pqo-pc vj? Ph Ph C i_ ' ^o; Oca 

Fages ^o . u ".32 ,° v ti H x 



8 1.75 9.14 $ -34 $ .85 $i-i9 

10 2.18 7.31 .42 1.06 1.48 

12 2.62 6.09 .51 1.27 1.78 

14 3-o6 5-22 .59 1-49 2.08 

16 3-5 4-57 -68 1.70 2.38 

18 3.93 4.06 .76 1.92 2.68 

20 4-37 3-65 -85 2.13 2.98 

22 4.81 3-32 -93 2.34 3-27 

24 5.25 3-04 1-02 2.56 3-58 

26 568 2.81 1.1 1 2.77 3.88 

28 6.12 2.61 1. 19 2.98 4.17 

32 7- 2.28 1.36 342 478 

In the preparation of this table, the weighing was done on 
an ordinary parcel-post scale, using the quality of white paper 
in The Louisville Courier- Journal. It is medium grade paper, 
8 columns wide and 23% inches deep. No allowance was 
made for wrappers. The basis of the figures given in the 



ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION REVENUE 65 

table is that an 8-page paper will weigh 1% ounces and will 
run 9.14 copies to the pound. For each additional two pages 
added, the weight is increased .43750 oz. No attempt has been 
made at hair-line accuracy, the purpose being to indicate a 
principle which circulation managers may apply to their local 
conditions. Bulk weighings would show some variations from 
the foregoing figures. 

Circulation Revenue below Production Cost 

White paper, at the time this calculation was made, was, 
selling at from $2.10 to $2.20 per hundred pounds, but in this 
table the price was arbitrarily made $2.50, or 2% cents a pound, 
to allow for ink, waste, overprint, etc. The mailing cost being 
one cent a pound, the cost of the paper will therefore be 2% 
times the postage rate. A 312-day paper is considered in the 
analysis. 

Sunday newspapers, as a rule, have book or other higher 
quality paper supplements in addition to the ordinary white 
news, and thus their paper costs run in a scale outside of the 
calculations here cited. Postage charges also will be heavier. 
Metropolitan Sunday newspapers selling at $2 a year will not 
have a circulation revenue sufficient to cover the paper bill. 

The table shows that any paper up to 20 pages will yield 
enough circulation revenue, at $3 a year, to pay for the white 
paper and mailing costs — for the actual paid circulation. 
When the overprint, returns, free copies, and waste are man- 
aged loosely, or even when managed conservatively by a paper 
with several editions daily, the revenue will not be sufficient 
to cover both charges. 

In general, the city subscription price is $2 more than the 
mail edition. That is, a paper selling by mail at $3 a year, 
usually sells at $5 by carrier. Some papers, like The Chicago 
Tribune, charge $4 by mail a year of 312 days, whereas on 
the streets of Chicago the paper may be bought for the same 



66 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

period at one cent daily, $3.12. The Indianapolis News by 
carrier is $5 a year, the delivery expense being $2.08, whereas 
the rate is $3 a year by mail and the delivery expense is ap- 
proximately $1. 

The tendency in the larger offices seems to be to consider 
that the circulation revenue is doing well if it pays for the 
paper, and in this connection the statement of The Chicago 
News appearing in the present chapter will be remembered. 
Advertising not only increases the paper and postage expenses, 
but the editorial expense as well, for every time a column of 
advertising is added, a proportionate amount of news, or fea- 
ture material, must be added. It is just that the advertiser 
should bear this extra editorial expense. 

Ratio between Circulation and Advertising Revenue 

As will be inferred by now, the question, what ratio should 
the revenue from advertising bear to the revenue from circu- 
lation, is answered with wide variance in newspaper offices. 
The larger the paper, the larger the ratio in favor of adver- 
tising revenue. If a standard can be approximated, it probably 
is 2 to 1, or two dollars from advertising to one dollar from 
circulation; but 3 to 1, 4 to 1, and even 5 to 1 are ratios in 
successful offices. A paper averaging 22 or 24 pages for 312 
days will have a ratio usually of 3 to 1. That is to say, the 
advertisers put up three dollars for every dollar the subscribers 
put up. One paper with 100,000 circulation derives about 
$300,000 a year from circulation and $900,000 from advertis- 
ing, or a gross income of $1,200,000. The reference is to net 
circulation revenue, after commissions to carriers, agents, etc., 
have been deducted. 

Principle Underlying Gross Revenue 

An economic principle which applies to every business is 
that the constant tendency will be to get down to a basis of a 



ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION REVENUE 67 

fair return upon the investment. Profits may be large in the 
early years, but the eventual effect of competition and the atti- 
tude of the public will be to support a business only within 
the foregoing limit. 

With newspapers this principle is at work, and will con- 
tinue until some of the excessive profits are reduced, and other 
subnormal revenues are raised to a fair level. Advertising 
rates, in the long run, must be figured in such a way as to 
yield a profit on the whole newspaper investment, after making 
due allowance for a normal circulation revenue. 

In most communities, a normal circulation revenue will 
equal 50 per cent of the advertising revenue, and this is about 
the ratio for all American newspapers. In 1910, as shown in 
the table at the beginning of this section, the ratio was 1 to 2. 
A large number of newspapers will show a ratio of 1 to 3, and 
there will be newspapers in the metropolitan centers where the 
ratio is even more one-sided in favor of the revenue from 
advertising. 

The reason that many newspapers continue to sell circu- 
lation at from y 7 to %4 cent per line per 1,000 of circulation 
is found in the fact that the advertising revenue at this rate 
will yield, in conjunction with the circulation revenue, a profit 
on the whole investment. If a newspaper is making money 
at so low a rate, advertisers will know it, and will turn a cold 
shoulder to any increase based on an arbitrary belief of the 
publisher that his circulation should sell at a higher rate. On 
the other hand, a publisher whose gross income is not a fair 
return upon his investment has a just reason for exacting 
higher rates from both subscribers and advertisers. 



CHAPTER VI 

PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



STANDARD SALES POSSIBILITIES ; ADVERTISING 
RATES AND CIRCULATION 

Fixing a Circulation Standard 

Thus far there has not been developed a standard of meas- 
urement of circulation sales possibilities for newspapers better 
than the ratio of one subscriber to each five persons of literate 
population. A newspaper, or combination of morning or eve- 
ning newspapers, which delivers one paper for every five 
persons of population, is near normal in sales possibilities. 

There are exceptions to this standard. The Detroit News 
delivers one paper to every 4.7 persons in its city, or approxi- 
mately one in five for this single newspaper. The News, 
however, dominates its field in an exceptional degree. The 
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin has a circulation practically 
equal to the number of homes in Philadelphia, but, of course, 
not all its circulation is within the city limits. 

Standard of Metropolitan Transient Sales 

Where street sales are excessive, the standard of one in 
five is not applicable. In New York, transient sales exceed 
the delivered papers owing to the peculiar conditions under 
which the people live. There are considerably more than 
2,000,000 evening papers sold every day in New York, and 
multiplied by five this would give a population of 10,000,000; 
whereas the territory served, including the Jersey and close-in 
suburbs, has about 6,000,000 population only. 

68 



STANDARD SALES POSSIBILITIES 69 

New York, furthermore, has a large non-English reading 
population served by foreign-language newspapers which are 
not included in the estimate of 2,000,000 daily sales of evening 
papers. Thousands of copies are bought, the headlines 
scanned, and the papers then thrown away. Where there are 
three or more editions daily, this practice is extensive. It is 
one reason why the price remains at one cent, as the public 
desires frequent bulletins of the news and probably would not 
pay two cents for the number of editions now consumed at 
one cent. 

Advertisers, in considering the circulation claims of papers 
in any metropolitan center, need to remember that the papers 
have a large duplication of circulation among their own readers. 
The same persons buy two or more editions of their favorite 
paper each day. This may be an advantage in our strenuous 
urban life, for to attract and hold attention it is necessary to 
iterate and reiterate merchandise news, but the papers are not 
selling the advertisers as many individual readers as their cir- 
culation figures indicate. 

Standard of Sales in Smaller Cities 

In other cities not so large, where the home life is more 
stable, the ratio of 1 to 5, after allowing for illiterates, is the 
standardized measure of sales possibilities. The theory is that 
five persons constitute a household, or family. Hotels, clubs, 
boarding houses, and stores are exceptions in fact, but not as 
regards the total of population. The Sunday editions upset 
this standard, for one household will usually buy two or more 
papers as a kind of mental feast, or dissipation. Besides, the 
use of premiums and contests to force sales has resulted in 
duplicated circulation. 

In the matter of duplication, it is not sound to say a morn- 
ing paper and an evening paper entering the same home have 
duplicate circulations, nor should advertisers so view it. A 



7° SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

morning paper is an entity and so is an evening paper. House- 
holds which take only one paper are below par. In this age, 
a paper every 24 hours is not evidence of mental alertness. 
The pace of our civilization requires that people know, morn- 
ing as well as evening, the course of events. 

Where one household takes two evening papers, or two 
morning papers, this is duplication of circulations, and adver- 
tisers are correct in taking the fact into consideration. But 
publishers should take the stand that any household with a 
morning and an evening newspaper is a standard household. 
In some cities the competition between circulation departments 
has resulted in as high as 20 per cent duplication in evening 
circulation, and this will serve to depress advertising rates, or 
to bar increases in such rates. 

The Retail Trading Radius 

The Audit Bureau of Circulations in its reports lays stress 
upon the division of circulation into two parts, the first con- 
stituting the " retail trading radius," and the second the 
country, mail, or circulation outside the first territory. Inas- 
much as local advertisers are a newspaper's main support, the 
establishment of a retail trading radius is essential. This may 
be 20 miles from the publication office, or even farther where, 
as at Indianapolis, a great system of interurban and trunk line 
railroads makes the city easily and quickly accessible for a 
radius of 50 miles or more. Indianapolis local advertisers 
write their advertisements a day ahead, or allow time enough 
for these outlying subscribers to get into the city to take ad- 
vantage of the offers. 

Distribution of Circulation between City and Country 

The quarterly reports of " The Gilt Edge Newspapers " — a 
voluntary association of about 200 newspapers, bound by the 
common agreement to tell the truth about circulations — show 



STANDARD SALES POSSIBILITIES 7 1 

the distribution of each paper in the city and in the country. 
The average for 158 of these papers shows 55 per cent in the 
cities and 45 per cent in the country. The individual varia- 
tions from this average were wide, as will be seen in the dis- 
tribution of the following 25 papers selected from the list of 

158: 

CIRCULATION STATISTICS OF 25 NEWSPAPERS 

Percentage 

North Circulation City Country 

(E) Montreal Star 105,596 58 42 

(M) Regina (Sask.) Leader 12,212 43 57 

(E) Indianapolis News 105,000 49 51 

(E) Springfield (O.) News 11,715 77 23 

(M) Buffalo Courier 56,078 70 30 

(M) Springfield (111.) State Register 19,350 39 61 

East 

(E) Portland (Me.) Express 18,815 83 17 

(E) New York Globe 165,000 90 10 

(E) Scranton (Pa.) Times 36,091 60 40 

(E) Binghamton (N. Y.) Press & Leader 25,355 52 48 

(M) Paterson (N. J.) Call 11,520 82 18 

South 

(E) Paducah (Ky.) Sun 6,449 51 49 

(E) Jacksonville (Fla.) Metropolis 18,650 55 45 

(E) New Orleans Item 53,ooi 52 48 

(E) Houston (Tex.) Chronicle 32,449 39 61 

(E) Augusta (Ga.) Herald 10,552 55 45 

West 

(M) Omaha World Herald 31,595 17 83 

(E) Omaha World Herald 26,144 86 14 

(M) Topeka (Kan.) Capital 32,377 28 72 

(M) Sioux City (la.) Journal (M & E) . 46,360 25 75 

(M) Salt Lake City Herald-Republican. . 16,991 47 53 

(E) Phoenix (Ariz.) Gazette 6,334 ^7 33 

(M) Butte (Mont.) Miner 9,052 63 37 

(M) San Jose (Cal.) Mercury-Herald... 11,028 60 40 

(E) Portland (Ore.) Journal 49,606 60 40 

The circulation figures quoted are for the year ending 
September 30, 1914. It will be observed that of these 25 
papers selected at random, all but two of the evening papers 
have the largest percentage of distribution in the city. One 
notable exception is The Houston Chronicle. Of the morning 



7 2 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

papers, the division is about equal between those having the 
largest distribution in the city and those having their greatest 
circulation in the country. 

While these figures, and the average from the 158 in the 
whole list (55 per cent city to 45 per cent country), may not be 
conclusive, it seems safe to assume that the standard distribu- 
tion would be about 60 per cent city and 40 per cent country. 
The nearer a paper gets to the 50-50 division of distribution, 
the healthier is its distribution. A glance at the percentage 
of The Houston Chronicle, 39 per cent to the city and 61 per 
cent to the country, shows an unusual division for an evening 
newspaper. It does not mean that the city has been neglected, 
but that, having exhausted the sales possibilities in the city, 
the country has been invaded with big and highly gratifying 
results. 

The morning Omaha World-Herald shows only 17 per cent 
city distribution and 83 per cent country, whereas the evening 
edition of the same paper just reverses this distribution per- 
centage. Such a situation is usual where a single paper covers 
both fields. One emphatic conclusion from an examination of 
a great many papers is that the evening newspaper need not 
abandon the country to the morning paper on the assumption 
that the former reaches the reader too late. The evening paper 
often contains certain features which the country people want, 
and for which they will buy that paper. 

The State or Mail Edition 

When evening papers like The Houston Chronicle can build 
such large country circulations in the face of morning competi- 
tion, there is no reason why the circulation managers of all 
evening papers should not go after this business energetically. 
It may involve, as in the case of The Indianapolis News, a 
special state edition printed from 5 to 8 hours after the last 
regular evening city edition. This means that the issue for 



STANDARD SALES POSSIBILITIES 73 

mail and rural distribution is a paper with news practically 
as late as a morning edition. 

Solicitors armed with this argument can make excellent 
headway against the morning paper's argument of " today's 
news today." Many papers, like The Louisville Post, pre- 
date the last evening edition and call it " State Edition." This, 
however, is something widely different from a specially printed 
state edition with news up to the time of going to press. Ow- 
ing to the policy of going to press at from 2 to 7 p.m. Satur- 
day, many Sunday editions of papers intended for distant dis- 
tribution are, from a news viewpoint, little better than the last 
Saturday evening edition. 

By keeping a card index of all non-subscribers, the circula- 
tion department of The Schenectady Union Star successfully 
operates an excellent plan for determining how close to the 
sales possibilities of its field it has approached. Making this 
index and keeping it up to date has necessitated a careful can- 
vass of the city, involving considerable work, but the orginators 
of the plan are convinced that it yields information justifying 
the effort. It is an extension of The Indianapolis News theory 
of keeping a card index of its 100,000 subscribers. 

The Best Circulation 

Intensive work is the best; that is, building circulation 
within the retail trading radius. Even foreign advertisers are 
beginning to favor the papers which have the most concen- 
trated circulation, and are not greatly impressed with circula- 
tion among people who must go elsewhere than to the paper's 
publication city to do their buying. It is a truism, therefore, 
that circulation sales should follow the natural channels of 
trade of the city of publication. When circulation gets outside 
these channels, the paper is carrying circulation on which it 
loses money, and for which advertisers are increasingly loathe 
to pay. 



74 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Advertising Rates and Circulation 

Variations in Advertising Rates 

Nothing illustrates more forcibly the chaotic condition 
of publishing than the wide variations in advertising rates in 
relation to circulation. Among magazines the standard rate 
is considered y 2 cent per line per 1,000 of circulation, while 
if a standard for newspapers can be stated, it would be some- 
where between % and % of a cent per line per 1,000 of 
circulation. 

The Saturday Evening Post, with more than 2,000,000 
weekly, gets $8 a line, or $112 an inch for one insertion. This 
is its maximum rate, but instead of figuring out to the standard 
magazine rate of x / 2 cent per line per 1,000, it is % cent per 
line per 1,000 of circulation. At % cent per line its rate would 
be $10 a line or $140 an inch. It is therefore actually charg- 
ing $2 a line under standard. 

The New York Evening Journal, with more than 800,000 
copies daily, has a run-of-paper rate for one insertion of 60 
cents a line, or $8.40 an inch. If % cent a nne were standard 
for newspapers, The Journal would receive $56 an inch ! As a 
matter of fact it receives slightly less than Y 12 of a cent per 
line per 1,000 of circulation. 

Variation between Periodical and Newspaper Rates 

Why do advertisers pay more for circulation in periodicals 
than in newspapers? The main reason is in the durability of 
the advertisement, that is to say, in the life of the advertise- 
ment, which is thirty times longer in a monthly magazine than 
in a daily paper. Again, the magazine reader, as a rule, has a 
higher purchasing power than the daily paper reader. But 
when these and other obvious reasons are discounted, it re- 
mains evident that newspaper circulation is underpriced, and 
the big values advertisers get in newspaper publicity doubtless 



ADVERTISING RATES AND CIRCULATION 75 

account for the great increase in national advertising in news- 
papers in the last two or three years. 

Table of Advertising Rates 

The table given below shows the advertising rate per inch 
that will be yielded by any line rate, from y 2 to % cent, on 
any given volume of circulation. 



Line Rate 














per 1,000. ... y^ 


w 


vj 


y& 


w 


w 


W 


Circulation 














1,000 .. .$ .07 


$ .04% $ .03V2 


$ .02% % 


; .021/3 $ 


; .02 


$ .01% 


5,000 ... .35 


.23 


•17 


.14 


.11 


.10 


.08 


10,000 ... .70 


.46 


.35 


.28 


.23 


.20 


.17 


25,000 ... 1.75 


1.16 


.87 


.70 


.58 


.50 


A3 


50,000 . . . 3.50 


2.33 


1.7s 


1.40 


1. 16 


1. 00 


.87 


100,000 . . . 7.00 


4.66 


3-5o 


2.80 


2.33 


2.00 


1.75 


300,000 ... 21.00 


14.00 


10.50 


8.40 


7.00 


6.00 


5-25 


500,000 ... 35.00 


23-33 


17.50 


14.00 


11.66 


10.00 


8.75 


800,000 . . . 56.00 


37-33 


28.00 


22.40 


18.66 


16.00 


14.00 



The foregoing table is calculated as follows : 
By multiplying the advertising rate per line by the number 
of lines in an inch (14), the rate per inch per 1,000 is ob- 
tained. For example, a rate of Y 2 cent per line per 1,000 is 
equivalent to 7 cents an inch per 1,000, because % multiplied 
by 14 gives 7. Thus, % cent per line is equivalent to 4% 
cents an inch; }4 cent per line is equivalent to 3% cents an 
inch ; % cent per line is equivalent to 2% cents per inch ; 
and so on. Then by multiplying the inch rate per 1,000 by 
the number of thousands of circulation, the result is the ad- 
vertising rate per inch for that circulation. 

Comparison of Advertising Rates 

The Boston Post, with more than 450,000 circulation — the 
largest week-day morning circulation in America — receives 
only 40 cents a line, or $5.60 an inch. This is about 1% cents 
an inch per 1,000 of circulation, or y 12 cent per line per 1,000, 
which is the same as the rate of The New York Journal. The 



76 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Post and The Journal are both one-cent papers, so their circu- 
lation rates are also on a parity. 

The New York World, evening edition, with less than 
half the circulation of The Journal, still carries four-fifths as 
much advertising, which emphasizes the inability of newspapers 
to cash in on their circulations. 

The Chicago Tribune in January, 191 5, with a daily morn- 
ing circulation of 320,000, received 40 cents a line, or $5.60 an 
inch, for transient display advertising. This is about % cent 
per line per 1,000, or 1% cents an inch per 1,000. 

The Washington Star, with 68,000 circulation, received 
$2.10 an inch, which is about 3 cents an inch per 1,000, or 
nearly % cent per line. The New York Herald, a three-cent 
daily, received 38 cents a line, $5.32 an inch, for department 
store display on 100,000 circulation, which is better than % 
cent per line per 1,000 — considerably above the average. 

It should be remembered that all these rates are the max- 
imum one-insertion rates and that the larger part of news- 
papers' advertising revenue is derived from minimum rates 
which are at least 25 per cent under the figures here given. 

" The Gilt Edge Newspapers " 

The absence of any standard line rate for newspapers based 
upon circulation is apparent. In an effort to arrive at an 
average, or standard, rate, calculations were made for the year 
ending September 30, 1914, on 158 papers of " The Gilt Edge 
Newspapers " group, which includes dailies with circulations 
from 650 to 165,000 copies. As this period took in only two 
months of the European War, the reports are normal. 

These 158 papers had a total advertising rate for one inch, 
one insertion, of $97.20. Their combined circulation was 
2,431,000. The average rate consequently was 61.6 cents an 
inch, and the average circulation was 15,386. The rate per 
line per 1,00a was % cent, and the rate per inch per 1,000 was 



ADVERTISING RATES AND CIRCULATION 77 

4 cents. If % cent per line were standard, the 2,431,00x3 cir- 
culation would yield $170 an inch instead of only $97.20. 

Estimating their minimum rates, the total cost of one inch, 
one time, in all 158 papers would be $68.52, or about 29 per 
cent under the maximum quotations. This is the rate upon 
which contracts for big space — like that taken by department 
stores — are based and from which the larger part of the paper's 
revenue is derived. The average minimum rate, therefore, 
for 158 papers was 43.7 cents an inch on 15,386 circulation. 
The rate per line per 1,000 figures % cent, and the rate per 
inch per 1,000 is 2% cents. 

Inasmuch as these newspapers are the pick of the news- 
paper field, and so assured of their circulation positions that 
they could publish their figures in detail, they do not perhaps 
afford an accurate test. It would not be safe to announce 
% cent per line per 1,000 as a standard maximum rate, or % 
cent per line a standard minimum rate, simply from a test of 
158 papers. But it is interesting as an approximation. 

Taking up the individual papers, the following rates per 
line per 1,000 of circulation were revealed: 



18 received 


y 2 


cent 


per 


line 


23 


a 


Vs 


a 


tt 


a 


23 


a 


Vi 


tt 


tt 


tt 


13 


tt 


% 


a 


tt 


a 


14 


a 


Ye 


a 


a 


a 


6 


a 


Vi 


(( 


a 


' a 


2 


tt 


% 


(C 


a 


a 


5 


tt 


% 


(( 


ti 


a 


15 


tt 


% 


ti 


tt 


it 


5 


a 


% 


(( 


tt 


a 


19 


tt 


% 


a 


a 


a 


8 


tt 


% 


tt 


tt 


it 


3 


tt 


% 


ic 


ft 


tt 



154 



7 8 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

One received as high as i% cents per line and three 
received one cent per line, making the 158 papers. It was 
observed that the smaller the circulation, the higher the line 
rate; and vice versa, the larger the circulation, the lower the 
line rate. Examples illustrating this have been cited. 

Circulation managers show a tendency to regard 2 cents 
an inch per 1,000, or % cen t per line, as a standard rate, and 
to consider that their papers are above or below par according 
as they exceed or go under this standard. 

Rate Not Commensurate with Circulation 

Every publisher knows how like pulling eye teeth it is to 
advance advertising rates. And from the facts here stated it 
is evident that there is little incentive to building excessively 
large circulations, except the consideration of pride in having 
the largest, because advertising rates cannot be made to ad- 
vance commensurately with circulation. 

The New York Herald, with around 100,000 circulation, 
received the comparatively high rate of % cent per line for 
local display; whereas, The Evening Journal, with 800,000 
circulation, received the very low rate of y 12 cent per line 
per 1,000 of circulation. Of course, other factors than volume 
of circulation affect advertising rates. The Herald's 100,000 
readers have a much higher purchasing power for luxuries and 
high-priced commodities than The Journal's 800,000 readers. 
The two papers appeal to different strata in society, and ad- 
vertisers cannot reach either stratum without using one or the 
other of the two mediums. 

When the European War began, some metropolitan papers 
doubled their circulations almost overnight. The New York 
Evening Telegram, for example, leaped from 200,000 to 400,000 
daily, and this was a dead loss, because advertisers refused to 
pay, even if they were asked, any higher advertising rate, and 
the cost of print paper made the gain a business calamity. 



ADVERTISING RATES AND CIRCULATION 79 

There was an important advantage in that The Telegram was 
introduced to many new readers, but in the main the regular 
buyers simply doubled, trebled, or quadrupled their purchases 
of the various editions and extras. 

Carrying Unsalable Circulation 

It is noticeable among magazines that they are seeking to 
maintain their advertising rates with just as little circulation 
promotion as possible. To carry 100,000 excess circulation 
from which no advertising revenue can be collected, may mean 
the difference between a profit and loss on the publishing 
enterprise. At the same time it is a delicate thing for a news- 
paper or magazine to halt arbitrarily its aggressive efforts at 
growth. The problem is to know what is natural growth and 
to cultivate that, and what is hot-house growth and to avoid 
that. New publications are a law unto themselves in circula- 
tion work, because they violate all economic principles in order 
to get a footing; hence what is said here applies to established 
publications. 

Relation between Advertiser and Publisher 

A more intimate and sympathetic relation between publish- 
ers and advertisers is not only desirable, but coming to pass. 
Newspapers which formerly obtained business by flourishing 
large circulation figures are now asked to show how the circu- 
lation is distributed, in the city, suburbs, and country. This 
is making it difficult to deal in generalities. The local retail 
merchant finds that a large percentage of the circulation is 
entirely outside of the retail trading radius, and proceeds to 
count that part of it useless. And the foreign advertiser is 
more and more concerned in circulation concentrated in the 
paper's natural territory. 

Marshall Field in Chicago knows that advertising in that 
part of The Herald, Tribune, or Examiner circulation which 



8o SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

goes to Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky is 
useless to him except in general publicity, and as a producer 
of a modicum of mail orders. At some time — perhaps once 
or twice a year — the readers in outlying states will come to 
Chicago and want to see Marshall Field's store. But day by 
day the advertising is wasted upon them. The conclusion is 
that papers seek and carry much circulation that cannot be sold, 
or cannot be sold at a profit. 

Reducing Unprofitable Circulation 

One publisher suggests that a newspaper should go to the 
local advertisers and say : " We have so many subscribers in 
the city and the retail trading radius. That is the circulation 
that you want. We propose to cut off all the distant business, 
and while this will cut down the gross circulation, it will not 
affect the value of the circulation to you. It will, however, 
reduce our expenses and make it possible for us to continue 
at present advertising rates, and to work intensively for cir- 
culation within the retail trading radius. Will you agree to 
this plan ? " 

This publisher then suggested that the paper let the busi- 
ness outside of the retail trading radius die a natural death. 
It involves an agreement with the local advertisers as to what 
constitutes the retail trading radius, but even if this is liberally 
bounded, it will enable the average paper to save from 5 to 20 
per cent in circulation. It would have the advantage of nat- 
uralness in circulation. It would do away with the policy of 
arguing for a particular advertising rate on a gross circulation 
obtained at a high expense and having small value to the local 
advertisers who keep the paper going. The Audit Bureau of 
Circulations is laying strong emphasis on circulation within the 
retail trading radius, and the inevitable consequence will be a 
less strenuous effort upon the part of circulation managers to 
get business outside. The Chicago News has always been a 



ADVERTISING RATES AND CIRCULATION 81 

wonderful advertising value because of its concentrated cir- 
culation within the Chicago retail trading radius. 

A new era in circulation work is dawning in the intelligent 
interest that advertisers are showing in circulation distribu- 
tion ; and their strong common business sense will cause them to 
accede to any reasonable curtailment of the field of operations 
that the publishers may suggest. Manufacturers endeavor to 
avoid far-away and isolated business because the freight 
charges eat up profits. They build business from their own 
doors outward — that is to say, they want business to be centrif- 
ugal instead of centripetal. Newspaper circulation should be 
built according to the same law. 



CHAPTER VII 

PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



RETURNS AND OVERPRINT; SELLING EXPENSE 

Restriction of Overprint and Returns 

One of the signal results of the new conception of circula- 
tion as a commodity, and an analysis of it into natural and 
artificial limits, has been the restraint of the " overprint " and 
" returns " abuses. 

It used to be a common practice to pad circulation by print- 
ing a large excess over actual sales. In some offices they still 
delude themselves, and possibly the advertisers, into thinking 
that because the press run is large the circulation has a healthy 
aspect. 

This is vanishing with a double-quick step for two reasons : 
The advertisers are now fully awake to the difference between 
net paid and gross circulations. And the cost of white paper 
makes the waste in returns and overprint economically dis- 
astrous. Naturally, if the overprint cannot be capitalized or 
sold, it will tend, and is tending, to disappear. 

The question, what is a normal percentage of overprint, 
is answered variously. The standard in efficiently managed 
departments is I per cent. For returns, where they are al- 
lowed, 15 per cent for newsdealers and 5 per cent for agents 
seems quite liberal. Unless a paper is making a special cam- 
paign for new readers through sample copies, larger percentages 
than those here quoted reflect the old ideals. 

To give newsdealers an excess supply may make a showing 

82 



RETURNS AND OVERPRINT 83 

on the news-stand, but when the returns get back to the office, 
the results have not been anywhere near the cost in white 
paper. John M. Schmid, upon taking charge of the circulation 
department of The Indianapolis News, cut off from 600,000 
to 700,000 returns the first year. 

Now, this represents a scientific understanding of circula- 
tion management. Mr. Schmid's department was bearing the 
cost of all that wasted white paper, and the cost of handling it 
both ways. It did the paper no appreciable good. If the 
reports over several months show that a newsdealer will sell 
on an average only 12 papers a day, to allow him 15 per cent 
returns, or 2 copies, is a safe margin. To send him 8 or 10 
extra copies daily is a waste. 

Advertisers are justly refusing to pay for this waste. They 
are refusing to pay for complimentary, deadheads, samples, file 
and office copies, copies to other advertisers, and all the free 
distribution. Hence, there is a decided tendency in progres- 
sive offices to reduce this distribution to a minimum. 

In an emergency caused by a big piece of news, a liberal 
overprint policy is preferable to a skimpy policy. But day 
in and day out 1 per cent overprint is ample, if distributed with 
judgment formed from a close and intelligent study of average 
sales. 

One of the noticeable facts about New York news-stands 
is the large accumulation of unsold papers, particularly the 
evening editions. They seem to be distributed with a lavish 
hand. During the war fever this was permissible, for no paper 
risked being sold out before the demand was met. Yet even 
then the stacks and stacks of unsold papers showed how little 
judgment was being used. The circulation managers should 
have visited the stands to see their own policies in practical 
operation. Perhaps they did, but the waste has gone right 
along, while the publishers meet from time to time and agitate 
the increase of price from one to two cents ! 



84 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Eliminating Deadheads 

If circulation managers scientifically studied how to keep 
the press run at a minimum, they would make surprising 
economies in paper bills. Here is a small instance. A daily 
published in one of our smaller cities cut off 16 deadheads 
recently. These 16 deadheads required 2 pounds of paper a 
day, the paper being 8 pages. This amounted to 624 pounds a 
year of 312 days. The paper cost 2% cents a pound, or 
$15.60 a year. In addition there were the delivery charges, 
39 cents a year by mail ; $2.08 a year by carrier ; which on 16 
deadheads amounted respectively to $6.24 and $33.28. On 
this paper in a city of 25,000 population such a saving will more 
than pay for the circulation manager's salary for an entire 
week. 

This publisher figures that paper costs $1 a year per sub- 
scriber, and postage 39 cents. Hence every time he can cut 
off a free copy he has saved $1.39, and if delivered by carrier, 
$3.08. With this impressive fact, he began pruning his free dis- 
tribution with most gratifying economies. Every newspaper in 
America can do the same thing and some can save thousands 
instead of hundreds. 

Scientific circulation management means nothing if it does 
not mean just such economies. The circulation manager too 
big to make them is too small for the best-managed offices. 
The efficiency movement is at work in publishing as actively 
as in other industries. 

The New York Times for the last five years has followed 
a no-returns policy. Dealers bear the loss from oversupply. 
Still there does not appear to be any lack of The Times on 
news-stands. The Chicago Tribune is also a no-returns paper. 
The general rule, however, is to allow returns. Many circula- 
tion managers continue to mesmerize themselves, and possibly 
their advertisers as well, into believing that press run is circula- 
tion. 



SELLING EXPENSE 85 

Cutting Down Waste 

The waste around the presses also may be watched with 
good economies. When everybody in the department is imbued 
with the idea that each pound of paper wasted is 2% cents 
lost, economy becomes easier. Small prizes, or honors, for 
efficiency in printing an edition with a minimum loss at the 
press, are eminently worth while. Then with a spirit of 
economy in the free list, returns, and overprint, a saving in 
annual paper bills will be made that will, or should, attract the 
publisher's eye. The smallest daily or weekly can count itself 
in on this efficiency movement. Think of paper in terms of 
money and the prodigal waste will cease. 

The 1914 white paper bill of newspapers in the United 
States was approximately $71,000,000. The New York Times 
alone uses 500 tons a week costing about $1,200,000 a year. 

Selling Expense 

Percentage of Renewals 

In a field where the newspapers generally employ contests, 
premiums, and similar selling schemes, the percentage of re- 
newals will be lower than for each paper in a field where only 
straight subscription work is attempted. For it follows logi- 
cally that a subscriber attracted to a paper by a bait, will be 
attracted to another paper by a better bait. This constitutes 
the objection some publishers have to premiums, etc. They 
feel that it is not stable business, though it is more so than 
they think. 

A newspaper that is satisfying the public will renew be- 
tween 80 and 90 per cent of its subscribers. This will be the 
irreducible minimum that cannot be attracted to another paper. 
In a city where the street and transient sales are excessive, 
such a rule does not apply, for there is no way of determining 
the personnel of each paper's readers. The reference here 



86 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

is to carrier cities. The New York Times has about 23,000 
mail subscribers out of 300,000 circulation, and these are sub- 
stantially the only part of its customers that The Times knows 
anything about. The other 275,000 are lost in the New York 
crowd. 

New York newspapers, therefore, maintain their average 
sales, or improve upon them, without knowing which of the 
competing newspapers lost the business. The Mail, Sun, 
Globe, and Telegram are in a general class, and they swap 
customers every day, because the only way one paper in New 
York can get a reader is to influence him away from another 
paper. At the same time each paper, because of peculiar 
features and its individuality, retains a certain minimum. 

Expirations and New Business 

To offset expirations and readers lost to other papers, as 
well as to maintain a normal growth, a newspaper should add 
about 20 per cent new business annually. If the renewals are 
90 per cent this leaves 10 per cent net increase. Where the 
population gain is normal and no extraordinary promotion 
schemes are used, this is a healthy growth. 

In connection with the foregoing point may be considered 
the comparative cost of old and new business. With many 
papers a renewal is obtained at 10 per cent of the cost of obtain- 
ing new business. If the subscriber has been educated to 
premiums and contests, the cost will be higher, but as the under- 
standing of the selling principles underlying premiums, etc., 
becomes clearer and sounder, this higher cost will decrease. 
In general, it is 90 per cent more expensive to add a new name 
than to renew an old one. 

Bad Accounts 

Where carrier boys, as in the South, are paid weekly wages 
for delivering papers, the losses from bad accounts fall on the 



SELLING EXPENSE 87 

newspaper which does the collecting, either through the carriers 
or specially employed collectors. In the rest of the country 
the tendency is decidedly toward shifting this loss to the carrier 
and the agent. 

The Portland Oregonian discontinues all subscriptions the 
day they expire. Its agents, carriers, and other circulation 
employees are under bond; hence the paper loses absolutely 
nothing. The same system is in vogue in most Northern, 
Eastern, and Western offices, and is growing in favor in the 
South. 

It is unquestionably the best system for all concerned. It 
makes a more efficient and interested carrier force, and the 
commission that the boys and dealers usually receive — 40 per 
cent — is sufficiently liberal to enable them to bear the losses 
from bad accounts. 

If a boy buys six papers at 6 cents and sells them for 10 
cents, he has made 4 cents, or 6673 per cent upon his invest- 
ment. This is a wide margin of profit. The paper cannot 
wisely afford to shoulder losses from bad accounts after allow- 
ing such a profit. Many cities in which the old system is still 
operative could change to the independent basis with much 
more ease than they imagine, and with a large benefit to them- 
selves. 

Normal Selling Expense 

Other manufacturing enterprises have a more or less estab- 
lished selling cost which is considered standard, but newspaper 
circulation promotion work is not in so stable a position. There 
is a distinction to be drawn between the selling expense of 
an established newspaper and one which is attempting to get 
a foothold in the field, or is attempting to rehabilitate itself. 

A new enterprise always apportions a larger amount to 
selling than it will allow when it has become a going concern. 
The New York Tribune began in 191 3 an extraordinary cam- 



88 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

paign to sell itself into a larger circulation, and the great sell- 
ing expense it allowed is too high above standard to be con- 
sidered in this discussion. Its investment practically amounts 
to a capital increase. 

On the other hand, what would be considered as a normal 
selling expense of a newspaper under average conditions? 
Some highly successful papers report 35 per cent. Others run 
as high as 50 per cent. A few get down to 25 per cent. 

If a paper sells at $3 a year, country edition, a selling 
expense of 35 per cent would allow $1.05 for obtaining a new 
subscriber. This would cover the cost of a premium and the 
cost of the solicitor if he is on a salary, or commission if he 
is on that basis. The $1.95 left would go into white paper and 
postage. By consulting the table on page 64, it will be evident 
which papers have a margin for selling expense after paying 
for paper and postage. 

A six-day paper of 8 pages has a combined mailing and 
paper expense of $1.39, leaving, out of a $3 subscription rate, 
$1.61 for selling expense. If this paper holds the selling 
expense to 35 per cent, or $1.05, the total for paper, distribu- 
tion, and selling is $2.44, leaving 56 cents profit to bear depart- 
mental and overhead charges. 

The same paper sells at $5.20 by carrier in the city. Allow- 
ing 4 cents a week, or $2.08 a year, for delivery ; $1 for paper 
and 35 per cent for selling, or $1.82; the total for paper, dis- 
tribution, and selling is $4.90, leaving 30 cents for profit to 
bear departmental and overhead charges. 

But the cost of selling in the city will not equal the cost 
of selling in the country, for this paper. No premiums are 
used in the city and the soliciting expense is not so large. 
This paper uses a premium costing 25 cents, in the country 
work, and a solicitor who is paid $25 a week. 

The Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Press pays its carriers 25 
cents for every 16-weeks' subscription, which is at the rate of 



SELLING EXPENSE 89 

about 80 cents for a yearly subscription, or between 15 and 
16 per cent of the subscription price of $5.20 a year by carrier. 
This is a low selling expense and has proved effective. Certain 
prizes used in contests to stimulate the boys to work for new 
business will increase the selling expense slightly. 

Where the white paper alone consumes the circulation 
revenue, the selling problem is unchanged so far as keeping 
it under 35 per cent is concerned. In Chapters XIV and XV, 
" Premiums " and " Contests " respectively, further considera- 
tion will be given to the question of selling expense. There 
are some papers which cover their field so adequately that new 
business comes in without much urging or expense, because 
the publishers have estimated so nicely the temper of the 
people, but the usual circulation department is under the neces- 
sity of keeping everlastingly at it — which constitutes the zest 
and the cost of the game. 



CHAPTER VIII 

A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 

Circulation Department of The Indianapolis News 

The Indianapolis News is one of the most conspicuously 
successful newspapers in America. A six-day evening news- 
paper selling at two cents a copy, it has attained a circulation 
of more than 105,000 daily in a city of 275,000 population and 
in the state at large. It runs from 18 to 32 pages and carries 
90 columns of advertising without straining its own daily 
record. 

For the last ten years the circulation department of The 
News has been managed by John M. Schmid ; and as the 
organization he has built is, in many respects, a model, it will 
be described in some detail. 

It is believed that by visualizing an organization like The 
News, which presents every phase of circulation work highly 
developed — city, country, and rural — as is done in this 
chapter, and showing the variations from this model in sub- 
sequent chapters, the clearest idea of departmental organization 
and practice will be obtained. 

Organization Chart 

The chart which follows shows the organization and lines 
of contact between the manager of circulation and the sub- 
scribers. It is evident that the work has been divided along 
natural lines and without overlapping duties or confusion of 
authority. But a description of functions should be preceded 

90 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 



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9 2 



SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



by a knowledge of the basic principles of which the organiza- 
tion is an outward expression. 

The Ideal of Individual Service 

First of all, Mr. Schmid seems never to have thought of 
subscribers as a mass. The individual is far more important 
in his mind than the aggregate number, so that the 100,000 
subscribers are treated as units which must have perfect han- 
dling to the last one before a satisfactory view of the whole is 
permissible. 

Every detail of the organization was developed to assure 
perfect service to the individual subscriber; and, to show the 
extent to which this was carried, it may be stated that The 
News maintains a card index of, and practically knows, each 
one of its 100,000 subscribers. 

Not one is allowed to stop the paper without a full investiga- 
tion of his reasons and a strenuous effort to retain him. How 
this is done will be described further on. Again, as emphasiz- 
ing the idea of service, The News has a good many subscribers 
to whom the cost of delivery is actually three times as much 
as the subscription price. 

Service, therefore, is the italicized word in Mr. Schmid's 
vocabulary. The entire distributing force has been impressed 
so strongly with this idea that they take as a matter of course 
in his written instructions a liberal use of the phrases, " ex- 
pelled from the Carriers' Association," or " instantly dis- 
charged," for violations of the rules. 

An outsider reading these instructions feels that an iron 
discipline is enforced, and might imagine that changes in the 
personnel would be frequent because of such exacting stand- 
ards, but the employees have risen to the spirit back of the 
rules and deliver the character of service required. They get 
the service idea. 

Naturally this is a prominent reason for the fine showing 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 93 

of The News. At the same time, Mr. Schmid frankly says 
that his greatest asset as a sales manager is a good newspaper 
to offer buyers. The combination of an excellent product with 
an efficient sales organization is the secret of The Indianapolis 
News' success. 

Keeping Close to Subscribers 

Like many manufacturers, newspapers with large circula- 
tions frequently allow themselves to become aloof from the 
consumer, through the interposition of middlemen. The tend- 
ency is to sell to the wholesaler, the jobber, the agent, or the 
retailer, and to leave the consumer in their hands. 

The News sells to these middlemen, but on terms that do 
not sever the producer-to-consumer relation. Neither agents 
nor carriers are allowed to stand between The News and an 
intimate contact with its subscribers. 

An elaborate system of daily and weekly reports enables 
the manager of circulation to know the precise reason why 
Andy Jones on a remote rural route stops his paper, as well as 
the cause for the dissatisfaction of a customer in the Third 
Ward of Indianapolis. No subscriber is too remote to be out- 
side this comprehensive system. 

Carriers and agents own the routes or subscriptions, but 
upon conditions that make the subscribers understand that 
The News knows them and looks upon them as members of 
its family. The practical machinery of this system will be 
elaborated elsewhere. 

Mechanism of Distribution 

To give the kind of service sketched broadly here, about 
8,000 persons have some part in circulating The News, includ- 
ing, of course, the express, interurban, railroad, and mail men 
who are not paid by The News, but who are mentioned to 
show the scope of operations. In the foregoing total, how- 



94 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

ever, there are 1,600 city carriers, 300 newsboys, 800 state 
agents, 4,000 boys under the state agents in other Indiana 
towns, and 160 helpers in the main circulation department, all 
of whom derive an income from The News. As the paper's 
general policy is to " go it alone," a vast majority of the force 
have no other newspaper connection, and a surprising percent- 
age are on straight salaries. 

Handling City Circulation 

Taking up the organization in detail, it will be noted that 
there is an assistant in charge of city and suburban circulation. 
His territory is the city of Indianapolis and suburbs for a radius 
of 20 miles. The News has about 65 per cent of its circulation 
in this territory. 

Indianapolis has been divided into twenty-five districts for 
carriers, and one district for news-stand and newsboy sales, 
with a district manager for each. Within these districts there 
are 36 substations, which are mostly stores or rooms leased 
by The News. Eleven are managed by dealers on a com- 
mission basis, and twenty-five of the largest stations are man- 
aged by the district men. Each substation has telephone con- 
nection with the main office. 

The carrier force, numbering approximately 1,600, centers 
in the substations. The manager, whether dealer or district 
man (the latter being on a salary), must have the station open 
by 2 130 o'clock p.m., and is responsible for the discipline and 
all circulation operations within his bailiwick. Papers are 
delivered to the substations by The News in automobiles. 

Instructions to Substation Managers 

A substation manager receives a book of instructions, or 
rules, 1 about twenty of which are devoted to sales and " ginger " 
talks on the points of neatness, honesty, optimism, industry, 

1 See Form 35 for complete rules. 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 95 

enthusiasm, etc. Below, the author has summarized the other 
rules to show the general policies : 

1. Keep in touch with the main office by telephone dur- 
ing the day. 

2. Substations must be open at 2.30 p. m., and managers 
must report " off duty " at 5.30, except during the baseball 
season. 

3. No smoking is allowed while on duty. 

4. A bond must be furnished for the faithful performance 
of duty. 

5. Visit all news-stands in your territory once a week and 
substations twice a week. (This rule applies to district men 
who do not manage substations.) 

6. Collections must be made at news-stands and sub- 
stations every Tuesday. Unsold papers must be taken up. 

7. Substations must be kept in sanitary condition, and 
good deportment must be enforced. 

8. You are responsible for all papers sent to your station. 
Advance payments by carriers must be forwarded to the 
main office to be held in trust. 

9. Study The News thoroughly every day so that you may 
know the product you are selling. 

10. Results only are considered. In your district you 
must work out your own salvation as regards circulation. 

Centralized Control 

From these and other rules to be considered further on, 
it is evident that the manager of circulation has shifted every 
responsibility and function to the shoulders of subordinates, 
that they can assume. He thus is left free to handle the larger 
problems, and to give the general supervision that an executive 
desires. 

However, Mr. Schmid has never lost touch with the daily 
routine and maintains a close personal relation with the entire 
distributing force. He scrutinizes daily and weekly reports 
with great care and regularity to discover the drift in the 
circulation stream, so that abuses may be corrected, or promo- 
tion aids devised, before any problem becomes formidable. 



96 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The old-fashioned business policy was to take an inventory 
once a year, and many large and successful concerns never 
really knew how they stood except at such periods. The 
monthly trial balance has superseded this policy, and now most 
progressive concerns can tell on a moment's notice the actual 
condition of affairs. 

The News has developed this idea to a daily basis. Each 
morning Mr. Schmid knows the exact circulation figures; 
knows the fluctuations, and at what points gains or losses have 
been made; knows the peculiar conditions that surrounded the 
fluctuations ; and knows — and this he watches with eternal 
vigilance — which subscribers failed to receive good service, 
and why. 

The reports from agents, district men, traveling men, solici- 
tors, and carriers that yield this information are not intricate. 
The success of such a system lies in allowing no laxity in send- 
ing the reports to the office. Some of these reports are re- 
produced among the forms in the latter part of this volume. 

The Work of the Carriers 

The carriers report to the substations at 4 p.m. They are 
permitted to solicit business anywhere, but are advised to econo- 
mize leg work by soliciting within a restricted area. These 
carriers own their routes in a certain sense, that is, they own 
them under conditions which give The News absolute control 
at all times. 

They must pay for their papers daily, or in advance for as 
long as they please, and the profit they make is 4 cents a week 
per subscriber, or $2.08 a year per subscriber. They buy six 
papers a week at one cent a copy, 6 cents, and sell them for 
10 cents a week. Losses from bad accounts are borne by the 
carriers or agents. The average route among the 1,600 carriers 
is 2>7 subscribers, with a maximum of 75 copies, and the 
average age of the carriers is 11 years. 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 97 

Indianapolis News Carriers' Association 

One of the means adopted to control the carriers and the 
subscription list was the organization of " The Indianapolis 
News Association of Carriers." No boy can carry The News 
unless he is a member, and a bond must be given, signed by 
the boy and his parent or guardian. Only a digest of the 
rules of the Association will be given here to show the princi- 
ples involved : x 

1. Object. Promote circulation, inculcate ideals, and 
equip members for manhood work. 

2. Membership. Any boy or girl, 8 years and up. 

3. Record Number. Each carrier taking 4 copies or more 
is given a number in the records of the office. 

4. Bulletin Boards. In substations for all notices con- 
cerning carriers or subscribers. Must be read daily. 

5. Carrier Slips. These show papers bought daily. Also 
names and addresses of each stop or new subscriber. 

6. Payments. Cash daily for papers, or in advance. 

7. Supplying Papers. Impartially to the boys as they 
appear. No discrimination by substation manager. 

8. Counting Papers. This must be done before leaving 
station, as no shortages will be allowed. 

9. Delivery. Every subscriber must be served by 5.30 
o'clock. 

10. Deportment. No smoking, chewing, spitting, or bois- 
terous conduct is permitted in or around substations. 

11. New Business. The signature of the subscriber must 
prove first delivery. Spare time should be devoted to 
soliciting. 

12. Buying and Selling Routes. The carrier must have 
the station manager's consent. 

13. Substitutes. Each carrier must have a substitute ac- 
ceptable to manager ; and if 75 or more papers are carried, a 
helper. 

14. Vacations. Annually, with permission of manager, 
after arranging for acceptable substitute. 

15. Collections. Weekly collections advised. Carrier 
bears losses from bad accounts. 

16. Trust Funds. Money paid in advance by subscribers 
at main office is held in trust for the carrier. 

1 See Form 34 for complete rules of the Association. 



9 8 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

17. Complaints. The carrier must acknowledge com- 
plaints and apply a remedy instantly. Missed papers de- 
livered at his expense. 

18. Stops. Paper must be stopped promptly upon notice, 
and the reason must be ascertained and reported to office. 

19. Missed Papers. If delivery has to be made from main 
office, the carrier is charged for messenger hire. 

20. Subscribers' Names. A complete list must be fur- 
nished to The News by each carrier, with additions and re- 
visions. 

21. General Instructions. Carriers act solely as distribu- 
ters, not owning the subscribers. Carriers cannot deliver 
any other paper. They are not allowed to distribute cir- 
culars. 

Controlling the Carriers 

The outstanding fact about the foregoing rules is the abso- 
lute control, amounting to a " benevolent despotism " exercised 
by The News over its distributing force. Expulsion from the 
Association, and loss of a route, are the penalties for a violation 
of any of the rules. 

The character of the boys constituting the force is super- 
vised in the provision that no route may be sold without the 
consent of the district man, or the manager of city circulation. 
An unbroken contact with the subscriber is maintained in the 
provision that carriers must file the names and addresses with 
The News, and make a detailed report on every new customer, 
or cancellation. 

The real effect of the rules is to give The News all the con- 
trol over the carrier it would have if he were on a salary, and 
yet to secure all the benefits of the independent, or commission, 
basis of employment, in such things as shifting the losses in 
bad accounts to the carrier, and having him feel the stimulus of 
increasing his income by getting more business. 

As rigid as they are, the rules have not operated to depress 
initiative, or enthusiasm. On the contrary, a strict justice and 
a stimulating social contact induce an activit) so efficient that 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 99 

no canvass of the city for new subscribers has been made by 
solicitors since 1906, and in the interim more than 35,000 sub- 
scribers have been added. Mr. Schmid modestly attributes this 
showing to " the merits of the paper." 

Creating an " Esprit de Corps " among Carriers 

Some of the things done at the expense of the paper for 
the creation of an "esprit de corps " among the carriers follow : 

1. A big annual outing in the summer at an amusement 
resort with everything, including dinner, free. 

2. A Christmas gift of $1 in merchandise at any store ad- 
vertised in The News, to each of 1,600 carriers. 

3. A visit from the district man if the carrier is ill. Fi- 
nancial help is given if it is needed. In case of death, the 
paper invariably is represented at the funeral, and a floral 
tribute is sent by The News. 

4. A Newsboys' Band of 50 pieces, and a second band of 
40 pieces, are maintained at an expense to the paper of $3,- 
500 annually. The bands play for public and charitable af- 
fairs. 

5. A Glee Club of 50 members composed of employees in 
every department. 

Instructions to Carriers 

The News prints and supplies free to its carriers all the 
printed matter needed in making out reports, and in keeping 
records of subscribers and collections ; also forms for furnish- 
ing to The News a complete roster of their customers. 

For his own use, the carrier receives a " Route Book," 4% 
by 6% inches, ruled for the subscriber's name and address, 
and to show the status of his account at all times. 1 After 
insisting upon the correct entry of name and address, the in- 
structions for the use of the route book continue as follows : 

Wherever possible arrange to make your collections 
weekly. Have every one understand that the loss is yours if 
you fail to collect ; this will help you in your collections. 

1 See Form 17. 



ioo SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Be prompt in your delivery. The News is not a fair 
weather paper and has no use for fair weather carriers. 

Be polite even to those who may be rude and insolent to 
you. This will enforce a sense of shame upon the offender 
and often wins him as a friend and customer. 

Keep canvassing all the time. If you can only secure a 
subscription for the Saturday paper, take it, give it good 
service on Saturday and keep working for a regular sub- 
scription, which you are pretty sure to get after a while. 

Write plainly, be exact in everything, and remember that 
System and Success are Twins. 

The first of the foregoing extracts from the instructions 
contains an important argument in favor of the independent 
carrier system. Many subscribers who would be indifferent, 
or dishonest, in paying to a man, or to the newspaper directly, 
will make an effort to be square with a boy. 

It is the human nature trait which feels a kind of antago- 
nism to the " rich corporation " and a sense of pity toward a 
boy trying to earn his living. People are ashamed, as a rule, 
to " beat " a boy out of a dime, or any other sum. The News, 
through its system of cash payments from carriers, and bonded 
salaried employees, has only an infinitesimal loss from bad ac- 
counts, and the carriers very little more. 

Handling Country Circulation 

Because of thirteen interurban lines radiating from Indian- 
apolis, with numerous railroads, it is an especially fine dis- 
tributing point. Indianapolis, too, is in the heart of the state, 
making an admirable situation for country distribution in every 
direction. 

The News prints its state, or mail, edition, from five to 
eight hours after the last regular city evening edition, and so 
it has practically as late news as the following morning news- 
papers, reaching towns and rural routes at the same time as 
the morning competitors. 

The assistant in charge of country circulation, as shown 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT ioi 

in the chart on page 91, has a distributing machinery that 
includes traveling men, special salaried agents, agents on com- 
mission, and news companies. His territory is all of the state 
outside the city circulation radius of 20 miles, except rural 
routes, country publishers with whom The News combines 
circulation work, and postmasters. 

He has salaried messengers on interurban trains to drop 
bundles at any point, where the subscribers can read the paper 
the same evening it is published, and this constitutes a special 
feature of The News service. The Public Service Commis- 
sion decided that traction employees could not handle the 
papers, and The News took the action indicated. 

At any point where the service to the public might be 
slighted by an agent or carrier on commission, or where the 
business is too small to interest anyone on commission, The 
News places a salaried representative, who has no temptation 
to consider his own convenience ahead of the subscriber. 

Here the idea of service is again in evidence. For example, 
many subscribers living as far as 50 miles from Indianapolis 
want The News the day it is published. Although the cost of 
the special messengers on the interurban cars made this class 
of circulation unprofitable to The News, the expense was 
ignored and the subscribers served. At junction or transfer 
points, the same care is exercised to insure prompt delivery. 

The special messenger will throw off single copies or 
bundles of three, five, ten, or some other number of papers, 
and the subscribers at that point take turns in getting the bundle 
and distributing the papers among themselves. At one such 
point, a dog was trained to go after the bundle, and he knew 
the arrival time of the car to a minute ! This sort of service 
has created good will for the paper, and an enlarged audience 
for advertisers, that are worth while. 

The traveling men are on salary and devote their time to 
constructive work and supervision of the agents. They will 



IQ2 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

visit a town, work up a subscription list, secure an agent to 
handle it, and keep in touch with him regularly thereafter. 
Subscribers obtained at any time subsequently by the traveling 
men are turned over to the local agent without charge, and a 
considerable part of the traveling men's time is spent in this 
co-operative work. 

The News will not deliver by mail to any point where it 
has an agent. Thus there is no competition from the main 
office with the local agent. Agents are instructed to accept 
from the traveling men only such customers as the agents know 
will be good business. In towns where the business is not 
sufficient to interest an agent on commission — 4 cents a week 
per subscriber — special salaried agents are employed. 

The relation with the news companies is rather too familiar 
to need detailed description, involving simply the delivery of 
papers in bulk at wholesale prices as in other cities, the com- 
panies having their own agents and distributers. 

The reports required of state agents, of special salaried 
representatives, and of any others who handle The News, 
have spaces in which must be noted daily the state of the 
weather and temperature; the time papers were due to arrive 
and when they actually arrived ; at which points delivery 
failed and why ; the subscribers secured, complaints investi- 
gated, stops run down, and other information that enables the 
manager of country circulation to know the whole situation in 
detail each day. 1 

The traveling men make collections from such agents as 
fail to pay their bills by the tenth of the month, take up 
papers, and substitute for agents when they are sick or dis- 
abled. The agents are allowed only 5 per cent " returns," but 
newsdealers are allowed 15 per cent. 

The News as a rule has exclusive agents, but when one 
agent handles The News and other Indianapolis papers, he is 

1 See Forms 26-30. 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 103 

required to make a report covering his business with all papers. 
This report shows how the papers are disposed of, whether 
through carriers, newsboys, or news-stands, and also shows 
the number of unsold copies. 

The country agents, in towns and cities where the circula- 
tion warrants it, have their own carrier forces, who are subject 
to the agents, though substantially the same discipline is en- 
forced among them by the agents as obtains in the city of 
Indianapolis. Each Indiana town and city, thus, is a miniature 
organization and replica of the main office. 

Handling Rural Circulation 

The assistant in charge of rural circulation directs the 
solicitors who devote their time exclusively to building cir- 
culation on rural routes ; the postmaster agents ; and the publish- 
ers of country papers which club with The News. He also 
supervises the subscribers who receive the paper by mail direct 
from the main office. 

This is the only branch of the service in which inducements, 
or premiums, are used by The News. These consist of a good 
farm paper, the choice of several national magazines, parcel- 
post maps, anatomical charts, knife sets, tool sets, pocket knives, 
etc. 

By carrier or town agent, The News is $5 a year. By mail, 
on rural routes, however, the price is only $3 a year. The 
mail subscribers receive the state edition, which is printed 
from five to eight hours after the last evening edition, and it 
reaches them the following morning by rural delivery. 

Subscriptions are accepted for any period. A special offer 
of 100 days for $1 is made, but The News urges three, six, 
nine, or twelve months' subscriptions. 



104 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Instructions to Solicitors 

A brief resume of the instructions issued in loose-leaf form 
to the solicitors will show the sales policies of The News : * 

i. Solicitors are expected to follow uniform methods of 
selling - prescribed in the instructions. 

2. There are three requisites. Know your business. Be 
self-reliant, tactful, and enthusiastic. Close your canvass so 
as to leave a good impression even if no order is given. 

3. The policy of The News is independent, clean in news, 
a paper to be proud of. 

4. Exercise your ingenuity in developing new ideas for 
getting business. Ideas move the world. 

5. Make suggestions to the manager and don't be dis- 
couraged if they are not acted upon. 

6. Shoulder your own mistakes. Take time to read all 
letters and circulars you receive. Have faith in yourself. 
Give the impression always that business is good. Take no 
pessimistic advice about conditions anywhere, but investi- 
gate for yourself. 

7. Do not fail to study The News thoroughly every day. 
A solicitor must be so familiar with it that he can induce 
others to desire it by his enthusiastic selling talk. 

8. Pay strict attention to complaints and report in detail 
to the office. 

9. Learn what your competitors are doing. Get their sub- 
scribers only by legitimate means. 

10. Write letters to us daily, giving detailed account of 
conditions on routes you visit. Acknowledge receipt of all 
communications from us and give advance notice of your 
itinerary. 

11. Never lose your temper. Be on pleasant terms with 
everyone so they will be glad to see you again. 

12. Ascertain if postmasters and rural carriers are 
friendly to The News. If not, and you fail to straighten 
out the trouble, notify us. 

13. If strangers object to paying you money, ask them to 
make check payable to The News, or make arrangements 
in advance for local identification. 

14. Keep posted on our subscription offers and adhere to 
them to the letter. Use sample copies judiciously. 

1 See Form 39 for complete instructions. 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 105 

15. Don't pay more than $1.50 a day for livery hire, and 
take good care of your horse, summer or winter. 

16. Stick to the truth. Farmers as a rule know what is 
going on. Invite comparison of The News with other 
papers. 

17. Cater to the women, who in many instances decide 
what reading matter comes into the home. Women read 
newspapers. 

18. Convince the pessimist, the " no rain " and " crop fail- 
ure " farmers, that they need The News regardless of con- 
ditions. In lean times the advertisements will help them to 
buy economically. 

19. Extend credit to farmers with discretion. As a rule 
they will pay such obligations. 

20. Avoid political arguments. If subscribers or pros- 
pects are " sore," explain that The News is independent of 
all parties, and has no axes to grind. It is for all the 
people. 

21. The market reports in The News are the best and 
latest obtainable. Never permit a statement to the contrary 
to go unchallenged. 

22. Our state edition is the best newspaper we print and 
its news is as " late " as the morning papers. 

23; Our sport page is the most complete published in In- 
dianapolis, and the state edition contains all the results of 
the day before. 

24. If people complain of our type, explain that we use 
the regular newspaper size, but set it more solid than other 
papers, because we find that most people prefer more news 
in smaller type, to less news in larger type. 

25. The News has one of the finest mechanical plants ; its 
staff of reporters in city, state, and nation is extensive ; it 
receives the telegraphic service of the leading associations ; 
it has a brilliant corps of special writers on governmental 
affairs and all other phases of life worth while. An index 
on the first page helps the busy reader. 

26. The News averages about three pages of " want " ads 
daily, and these are great circulation builders. Boost them 
at every opportunity. 

27. Advertisements are a benefit to subscribers, but we do 
not allow them to encroach on reading matter. The News 
runs from 18 to 32 pages, but the news space is kept up pro- 
portionately with the advertising space. 

28. The man who takes a local paper also needs The News 



Io6 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

to keep abreast of world events. We print a newspaper for 
all the people, not for people of a certain locality. 

The above bare outline hardly does justice to the virile 
selling spirit that pervades the full code. It will serve, how- 
ever, to indicate the trend of thought in the organization. The 
admonition to take good care of the horse, in rule 15, is proof 
both of the practical experience that inspired the instructions, 
as well as evidence of a big vision in business. 

By outlining selling talk and methods, Mr. Schmid succeeds 
in taking average solicitors and training them to work along 
lines of proved efficiency, and so gets results that only star 
salesmen are supposed to produce. 

If the sales, or circulation, manager has the ability to im- 
press his ideas upon a soliciting force, and these ideas are 
sound, $20 to $30 a week will attract men of high enough 
caliber to achieve gratifying results. 

The Benefit Association 

Another factor in the success of The News has been " The 
Indianapolis News Benefit Association." Any employee may 
become a member, and its constitution and by-laws make it a 
self-governing body. The initiation fee is 50 cents, with a 
sick and accident benefit plan divided into the following four 
classes : 

Class A. Members paying 5 cents a week shall receive $3 

a week. 
Class B. Members paying 10 cents a week shall receive $6 

a week. 
Class C. Members paying 15 cents a week shall receive $9 

a week. 
Class D. Members paying 20 cents a week shall receive $12 

a week. 



A MODERN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 107 

Other provisions are to the effect that not more than eight 
consecutive weeks' benefits will be paid to any one member, nor 
more than ten weeks in any fiscal year. A physician must give 
an indorsement of the claim. 

Members withdrawing have no claim upon the Association 
for dues paid, except that any accumulated dividends above 
the amount required to run the Association shall be distributed 
pro rata. Surplus funds are distributed as dividends every 
year. 1 

Reason for The News' Success 

The News circulation department is an interesting example 
of a sales organization which depends almost entirely upon 
straight selling policies. Contests are not employed, premiums 
are used sparingly and only on rural routes, and in the last 
eight years the city of Indianapolis has not once been covered 
by a regular corps of solicitors. 

By turning out an excellent news product, by getting the 
maximum efficiency out of carriers, agents, solicitors, traveling 
men, district managers, and all other department employees, 
the circulation has been made to grow conspicuously, yet 
healthily, and competition has not been able to dislodge The 
News from its preeminent position. 

Unquestionably, as Mr. Schmid says, the quality of The 
News as a newspaper is largely responsible for this success, 
but other good newspapers have not attained the circulation 
of The News, and a thoroughly organized, capably managed 
circulation department is entitled to a large share of the credit. 

A good newspaper -\- efficient circulation management = 
Success. 

1 For full text of constitution and by-laws see Form 37. 



CHAPTER IX 

CITY CIRCULATION 

Delivery Systems 

Broadly speaking, there are two systems of delivering news- 
papers to the consumer in the cities of America. They are 
the carrier system, and the newsdealer-and-newsboy system. 
In most cities, it is true, the two systems are blended in practice, 
but the distinction is -drawn by the preponderance thrown to 
one or the other. Philadelphia and New York are typical 
examples. 

In Philadelphia the great bulk of newspaper products is 
delivered by the carrier system direct to the subscribers' homes. 
At the same time there are considerable street and news-stand 
sales. On the other hand, in New York most readers buy 
their papers from newsboys or newsdealers and no carrier 
system exists. The difference in population is the principal 
factor, but not the only one. 

As a general rule, where people have to spend from thirty 
minutes to an hour and a half in getting to, and returning 
from, work, as they do in New York, the necessity of economiz- 
ing on time develops the habit of reading papers en route. In 
cities where homes are reached more quickly, and where there 
is more real home life, people prefer to read papers in comfort 
there. 

Chicago and Boston present the two systems more evenly 
balanced than the two cities mentioned above. Each of these 
cities has an extensive suburban population which spends much 
time on trains and rapid transit cars, and yet each has a large 
home delivery. 

108 



CITY CIRCULATION 109 

In New York the home delivery of morning papers is pro- 
portionately larger than that of the evening editions ; and the 
evening editions are planned to coincide . with this habit of 
readers, for they reach the maximum of size and news interest 
between noon and 4 o'clock, so that workers emerging from 
office and factory and store find the best editions of the day 
awaiting them. The stress and strain here comes in covering 
a wide metropolitan, or rather a long metropolitan district (for 
Manhattan Island is long and narrow) as quickly as subway, 
automobiles, and wagons can move. 

The Philadelphia System 

Taking up the Philadelphia carrier system, an interesting 
development of the method is found. The morning papers 
have more than 225 routes, carefully mapped in each circula- 
tion office. By acting co-operatively, the papers have reduced 
delivery to a fine point, with no ruinous competition or friction 
at any angle. 

Because the route owners earn on an average of $30 a 
week, they are high-class men and responsible in every sense, 
assuring excellent service to subscribers. The papers make 
monthly settlements of accounts with the route owners. 
Routes may be sold or exchanged with the consent of the papers 
— a provision that guarantees character and capacity in the 
route owners. 

No other city presents a more harmonious arrangement, 
nor one which is so economical. The route owners have an 
association which further contributes to the stability of the 
system and the efficiency of the service. This system leaves 
the papers free to compete for business, for while they have 
a common delivery service, the route owners are strictly 
neutral. Only the proverbial " go-it-alone " policy of Ameri- 
cans prevents other cities from adopting a similar plan. 

The evening newspapers in Philadelphia have a plan prac- 



no SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

tically similar to the one used by The Indianapolis News. 
That is, they deliver their papers in bulk to certain districts, 
where the carriers for the respective districts assemble to ob- 
tain their copies. The evening papers require daily cash 
settlements from the carriers, as distinguished from the 
monthly settlements required by the morning papers. 

Home Delivery Systems 

The difference between home delivery in Philadelphia and 
home delivery in New York is that a monopoly of a certain 
route or district is granted in Philadelphia, while in New York 
rival newsdealers deliver indiscriminately to customers in the 
same street or block. The four corners of a New York street 
intersection may have four dealers who are competing in the 
same district. 

As might be inferred, the machinery of distribution to 
dealers is much more complicated and elaborate than the de- 
livery to route owners or carrier stations in Philadelphia. The 
preponderance of transient sales to readers over home delivery 
accounts for the New York situation. The sales through 
newsboys, likewise, is unprecedentedly large. Newsdealers 
make deliveries to homes in their neighborhoods, but never 
deliver their papers at a distance of more than a block or two 
from their stands. 

When we get into other cities, the carrier system is domi- 
nant, for street sales are a small percentage of the total distri- 
bution. The carriers are generally on a 40 per cent commission 
basis, except in the South, and circulation managers spend 
considerable time arguing the merits of the wage and commis- 
sion methods of payment for delivery. It is not practicable 
to lay down a hard and fast rule favoring either plan, but the 
independent, or commission, plan — that is, to make the car- 
rier's pay depend upon the number of subscribers he serves at 
4 cents per subscriber — is in widest use. 



CITY CIRCULATION III 

St. Paul Carrier System 

In St. Paul, The Pioneer Press and Dispatch own their 
routes, of which there are more than 200. Carriers are re- 
quired to give bond and to deposit a sum sufficient to cover 
two weeks' supply of papers. Then they must pay monthly 
in advance for the estimated number of papers they will need, 
and are allowed 4 cents' profit a week on each subscriber. 
Collections are made by the carriers, which accounts for the 
provisions to safeguard the papers, but the regulations seem 
rather exacting. 

Portland (Ore.) Carrier System 

The Portland Oregonian has a somewhat similar organiza- 
tion, as it owns its own routes. The city is divided into dis- 
tricts, with the middle of the street as boundaries. Its carriers 
make from $34 to $90 a month, and the circulation department 
has a long waiting list of boys and young men (including many 
high-school students) eager to do the work. 

A feature of this paper's policy is the discouragement it 
throws on any efforts of the carriers to form an association, 
or union, the idea being that such organizations tend to make 
discipline difficult and to prevent the paper from dominating 
the situation. While The Oregonian circulation department is 
eminently successful, this policy cannot be recommended, and 
the manner in which papers like The Indianapolis News have 
organized the carriers and secured all the benefits of united 
effort without sacrificing control, proves that The Oregonian's 
fear is unfounded. 

Carrier Service 

The child labor laws of many states make an exception of 
carrying papers in their prohibitions of work for minors under 
the ages of 14 or 16 years. In its nature this is not exacting 
work, and it has many beneficial features for the boy. It does 



H2 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

not interfere with his schooling, and uses part of his leisure 
time in outdoor work which is both healthful and profitable, 
and which also has certain business-training possibilities not to 
be ignored. 

The digest of instructions to carriers by The Indianapolis 
News, given on page 97, is typical of most circulation depart- 
ments. In Chapter XI, " Esprit de Corps of the Circulation 
Department," the various ways of gingering the force, inducing 
team-work and intelligent salesmanship, are reviewed; but a 
few ways in which they are utilized to give good service to the 
subscribers and perform essential duties for the paper will be 
noted here. 

Reportorial Value of the Carrier Force 

A newspaper with from 36 to 1,600 carriers has, potentially, 
a great news-gathering staff. Coming as they do in contact 
with every nook and corner of the city, they should pick up 
much neighborhood gossip and occasionally strike the trail of 
a big story. But the nose for news usually must be cultivated 
in them. The average person, child or adult lacks this faculty 
of recognizing news when it is seen. A talk on this subject, 
preferably from the city or managing editor, will be effective 
in educating the carriers to look for news, but their interest 
must not be dampened by leading them to expect that all they 
report will get into print. 

The problem is to keep them interested enough to report 
everything and then not be disappointed when the city editor 
fails to use the story. They should be told what the paper's 
policy is as regards personals, society news, deaths, births, 
marriages, fires, burglaries, and so on. Small dailies with 
from 30 to 75 carriers usually print everything of this kind, 
but the larger ones have more news than can be printed and 
must cull the offerings. Some papers recruit excellent report- 
ers from the carrier force. 



CITY CIRCULATION 1 13 

Carrier Force as an Aid to Advertising Department 

The advertising department can utilize the carrier force in 
building up the want and classified columns. Saturday morn- 
ings when the boys are collecting, or after supper when they 
are soliciting, it is easy for them to ask the housekeeper, or 
owner, if a cook is not needed and then give a brief sales talk 
on the utility of the classified columns. A percentage for all 
such business obtained will enlist the services of the boys, and 
if the right kind of loyalty is in evidence, the boys will be glad 
to boost the paper by gratuitous work of this kind. 

Thus it is possible for all departments of a paper — edi- 
torial, advertising, and circulation — to use the carrier force. 
In the better managed offices this has been done for a long time. 

Securing Maximum Results from the Carrier 

Circulation managers here and there obtain the maximum 
sales efficiency from carriers, but in the average department 
this is an undeveloped field. One good practice is to give the 
carriers sheets on which to put the number of houses to which 
they do not deliver, and then samples can be sent, preferably 
by extra boys, and solicitors can follow. Or, the carrier him- 
self can do all of this work under intelligent direction. After 
6 p. m. is a good soliciting time, as people are then at home. 
A clean, boyish face almost invariably gets a cordial reception. 

Street Sales Competition 

Where street sales competition is keen, it is a common prac- 
tice to place paid newsboys on certain corners. Sometimes 
these are " Huskies " or overgrown boys with great lung ca- 
pacity and the ability to hold the corner in a fist fight. It is 
to be hoped, however, that this sort of rowdyism which has 
characterized Cleveland newspaper competition will not be re- 
peated in any other American city. The day of the " rough- 
neck " carrier has gone, with the rough-neck baseball player. 



H4 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Handling New Subscribers 

The time to start right begins with the delivery of the first 
paper. The carrier usually is required to obtain the new sub- 
criber's signature showing the delivery of the first paper. 
This gives the carrier a favorable opportunity to discuss in 
a tactful way the question of payments, when it will be most 
convenient to call, and incidentally to drop the hint that the 
carrier, and not the paper, loses when an account is not paid. 
The carrier will ascertain, too, where the subscriber wishes 
the paper left each day. 

Complaints from Subscribers 

Complaints about delivery need the most careful attention 
of the circulation manager or his assistants. In the first place, 
the subscriber must get good service at any cost and exertion, 
and in the second place, the carrier must get a square deal. 
Carriers should be advised to report any complaints that the 
subscribers expect to make to the paper, so that the circulation 
manager may have both sides. But the carrier should know 
that the subscriber has the right of way, for he puts up the 
money for the pay-roll ! 

The telephone is one of the most important points in a cir- 
culation department. Here a most tactful person should be in 
charge so that this contact of the paper with the public will 
be pleasing. Business can be attracted, or repelled, by the 
voice over the telephone, and complaints, no matter how un- 
reasonable, must be settled to the subscriber's satisfaction. 

If the carrier has failed to leave the paper, a special mes- 
senger should be on hand to deliver it within a few minutes. 
The sooner the door bell at the home of the irate subscriber 
rings the announcement that the paper is delivered, the better 
for the paper. The reaction in the subscriber's mind after a 
particularly quick piece of complaint service, is valuable adver- 



CITY CIRCULATION H5 

tising, for under such circumstances people usually comment 
to friends upon the prompt action. 

It has been discovered that the practice of allowing carriers 
to sell papers while delivering to subscribers causes some com- 
plaints, for the temptation to sell a paper and skip a subscriber 
occasionally overcomes the boy. The practice is not compati- 
ble with the best service to regular subscribers. 

The Toronto News places $25 to the credit of every carrier 
and 5 cents is deducted for every complaint that is made about 
him. At the end of six months he is given the balance. This 
naturally stimulates him to render as nearly faultless service 
as possible. 

Character of Service Rendered 

The customers of newspapers are really an easy-going lot 
as compared with the delivery service they demand from every 
other producer or distributer. The grocery or laundry boy 
must deliver into the house, while the carrier boy drops the 
paper on the edge of the lawn or throws it to the front porch. 
When it rains, or in cold weather, subscribers truly " stand a 
lot " from the newspapers on this point of delivery service. 

Wide-awake circulation managers more and more are in- 
sisting on individual service in the matter of delivery. The 
carriers must ascertain how each subscriber wants the paper 
delivered, and then deliver it that way. They are not allowed 
to roll the paper, as most carriers do to throw it; they must 
see that it is placed where the rain will not get it wet ; in short, 
the newspaper must be delivered in perfect condition to the 
place most convenient to the subscriber. 

Carrier Collections 

If carriers are paid weekly wages, they handle the paper's 
money; whereas, if they are on commission, they handle their 



n6 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

own money. Hence the advantage of the independent, or 
commission, system. The carrier must take care of the paper's 
interests in order to take care of his own. 

The number of dimes that are collected every Saturday for 
newspapers, in the United States, will run into the millions. 
Right here it is important to point out that 40 cents a month 
is not 10 cents a week. A good many papers have found out 
this difference, for the former yields $4.80 a year while the 
latter yields $5.20. This difference of 40 cents a year on sev- 
eral thousand accounts is a big item. 

Ten cents a week is more easily collected than 50 cents a 
month. The carrier, directed by the circulation manager, can 
educate the subscriber to have the dime ready. Most offices 
make 40 cents the limit of credit, and on this point, Al. A. 
Kemper, circulation manager of The Richmond (Ind.) Pal- 
ladium, says : 

" The only suggestion I have given our carriers regarding 
collections is that it is poor business to give anybody more than 
a month's credit, and that if the subscriber has not paid his 
bill by the end of that time, to stop his paper, at the same time 
notifying the competitive carrier and advising him not to serve 
the subscriber until he has made a settlement." 

Further testimony on handling the " dead-beat " is given by 
Sidney D. Long, circulation manager of The Wichita (Kan.) 
Eagle, in these words : 

" It sometimes becomes necessary to have a good, stout, 
hearty man with a good, clear countenance and a firm look and 
heavy voice go with the carrier two or three Saturdays and 
appear at the door with the carrier. Explain to the delinquent 
that the debt is due the carrier. The carrier has already paid 
the office. The account should and must be paid. Using a 
few chosen, persuasive words, showing the subscriber the office 
is right back of the carrier, not only brings the money then but 
regularly as a rule in the future. This also strengthens the 



CITY CIRCULATION "7 

carrier's faith in the office and at the same time shows him 
how to do it." 

System in Collecting 

A great many papers use collection cards which are for 
one year, and show every Saturday, or collection day, in the 
various months. The cards are left with the subscribers and 
the carrier punches them as collections are made. This does 
away with writing a receipt each time and the subscriber knows 
at a glance how his account stands. The one used by The 
Indianapolis News is reproduced in Form 16. 

The testimony of successful managers is to the effect that 
systematic, regular calls upon the subscribers produce the 
maximum collections. The carrier who is out upon his route 
by 7 a. m. Saturdays, and who is back at the subscriber's door 
during the week if collections were not made at the regular 
time, will have the smallest percentage of losses from bad 
accounts. A circulation manager, having placed the carriers 
upon a commission basis where they shoulder the losses, can- 
not then forget the collections. Unless the carriers are receiv- 
ing the sympathetic co-operation of the circulation manager, 
they will soon get so involved that they will have to quit the 
work, and the subscribers will very likely feel " sore " at the 
paper because of the untactful collection methods. 

Full-grown men need a lot of coaching on this kind of 
work, and boys need it even more than they. A subscriber 
can be lost by inefficient, untactful handling of his account as 
quickly, and more permanently, than by poor delivery service. 
Where money is involved, the utmost care should be exercised. 

Bonus System for Carrier Collections 

As a means of stimulating the carriers to more efficient 
collection methods, The Toronto News circulation department 
has a scale of bonuses for collections from any route or district. 



Il8 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The circulation manager having established a standard of col- 
lections, gives the carrier a bonus for exceeding this standard. 
Thus, if the carrier collects : 

80%, he receives a bonus of 1% 
86%, he receives a bonus of 2% 
92%, he receives a bonus of 3% 
96%, he receives a bonus of 4% 

Here we have proof that the " efficiency movement " has 
reached circulation management. Managers now are ex- 
perimenting with the various plans of pay and bonuses for good 
work successfully tried by manufacturers and have shown 
them to be applicable to circulation methods. The circulation 
manager is, therefore, not only a sales manager who should 
read books on salesmanship, but he is also a credit man and 
will find books on credits helpful. 

Eliminating the Dead-Beat 

Where all the papers in a city will unite in the plan, a 
paid-in-advance policy will eliminate the dead-beats. Laun- 
dries generally have gotten together and require cash payments, 
and there are no good reasons why more cities should not 
present the same plan among newspapers. When circulation 
managers realize that the opportunities to compete are not 
lessened by certain agreements on fundamental policies, better 
conditions for the weak as well as for the strong papers will 
follow. Some publishers still think that bad-pay circulation 
is better than no circulation, but the Audit Bureau of Circula- 
tions is telling advertisers what percentage of a paper's sub- 
scribers is in arrears, and better credit standards are assured. 

Liability of Subscribers 

The Columbus (Ohio) Telegram sued a subscriber for $2.35, 
and the court held that the subscriber must pay the account 



CITY CIRCULATION 119 

because he had accepted the paper. The court ruled that 
what a person receives and uses he is bound to pay for. This 
is interesting as establishing the status in law of this type of 
delinquent subscribers, but both newspapers and periodicals 
are entirely too officious and aggressive in foisting a publica- 
tion upon unwilling customers, after the expiration of a sub- 
scription. Nearly every person has had an unpleasant ex- 
perience in settling a dispute for a paper or periodical sent 
after the expiration of the original time paid for. Where the 
customer gives notice, either in writing or verbally, to the 
paper's carrier or representative, he should be absolved from 
further responsibility if the paper is continued. 

Handling Stop Orders 

On this point, R. S. Craft, circulation manager of The 
Jackson (Mich.) Citizen-Press, issues this rule to carriers: 

" Carriers should not accept any stops from subscribers. 
Tell them to report them to the office." 

This is a satisfactory method of handling stops, and is 
best for the paper because it gives the circulation department 
a chance to investigate the reason. The Indianapolis News 
has a stop record form which carriers must fill out to show 
which of the following reasons were given by the subscriber 
for cancelling the order: 

Taking Sun Can't afford 

Taking Star Sickness in family 

Changed carriers No reason given 

Out of city Poor service 

Moved Late delivery 

Out of work Don't like The News 

Poor pay No time to read 

Every morning the circulation manager gets a report show- 
ing the stops in every district, and the reasons therefor as 



120 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

indicated. The reasons given by the carriers are then verified 
by the district men, who endeavor to win back the subscriber, 
and who make four successive calls before giving up. Records 
are kept of these calls, and several months afterward the effort 
is renewed. Frequently the trouble can be straightened out 
by the district man, and the subscriber be retained. 

Circulation Department and the Subscriber 

There are four general ways in which the circulation de- 
partment comes into contact with the subscriber: first, when 
he begins taking the paper; second, when he complains of the 
service; third, when he pays for the paper; fourth, when he 
gives a stop order. 

The circulation department oversees all these four main 
relations with the subscriber. It verifies an order to leave 
the paper, it investigates complaints, it keeps an eye on the 
collections, and it investigates the reason for stopping the 
paper. Because these matters require supervision by a mature 
mind, a paper cannot afford to leave them entirely in the 
hands of the carriers. 



CHAPTER X 

SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 

Advertising Value of Suburban and Rural Circulation 

Of what value is it to a newspaper to have circulation in 
other towns and cities, and in the rural districts? 

Recently, this question has become uppermost in the minds 
of both advertisers and publishers, with the result, as remarked 
in a previous chapter, that newspapers now are seeking to know 
their natural circulation territory, and to avoid circulation 
extraneous to it. 

The following table shows the suburban and rural distribu- 
tion of The Indianapolis News for the year 1914 : 

30-mile limit 11,984 

40-mile limit 19,841 

50-mile limit 27,109 

75-mile limit 41,060 

100 miles and over 54,802 

Rural Circulation vs. Urban Advertisers 

The total circulation of The News was 105,585, divided 
about 52 per cent to the suburbs and country, and 48 per cent 
within the city of Indianapolis. This out-of-town circulation 
of The News was decidedly worth while, both to the paper and 
to the advertisers, because of the easy accessibility of the city 
to the distant readers. Thirteen interurban electric railways 
and numerous trunk line railroads afford quick and frequent 
service to and from Indianapolis. 

The foregoing table shows that 41,060 subscribers out of 

121 



122 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

the whole number of 54,802, or nearly 80 per cent, are within 
75 miles of Indianapolis stores. This is not more than a two- 
hour trip, and means that the subscriber can leave home at 7 
o'clock, be in Indianapolis at 9 o'clock, shop until 3 o'clock and 
be back home at 5 o'clock, in time to prepare supper. As 
stated in a previous chapter, the advertisers in Indianapolis 
write their advertisements a day ahead to allow for this trade. 
Not every large city is so centrally located and easily ac- 
cessible as Indianapolis, yet nearly every newspaper is seeking 
circulation in remote towns and rural districts. They do this 
in order to get a volume of circulation with which to dazzle 
the advertiser, and in the past the local advertiser, though 
interested only in the retail trading radius, has paid as much 
for this circulation as for the home delivery. 

Determining the Retail Trading Radius 

But with the increased interest advertisers are taking in the 
distribution of a newspaper's circulation, emphasis is being 
placed upon the retail trading radius, which is larger for some 
cities than for others, though rather nearer 30 miles on an 
average, than 75 miles, as with The Indianapolis News. The 
Audit Bureau of Circulations finds that one of its most diffi- 
cult tasks is to establish the limits of the retail trading radius. 

If train schedules, distance, and other factors make it im- 
possible for country readers to take advantage of the daily 
offerings of the local advertisers, such circulations are 90 per 
cent useless. They have some value, however, because several 
times a year at least, the country readers will visit the city 
that is their natural metropolis, and the local advertisers will 
derive a benefit from the steady publicity. Again, large stores 
once or twice a year put on a sale that attracts these distant 
readers, and it is valuable to the advertisers to be able to reach 
them on these occasions. 

In many cities the stores will refund the fares of out-of- 



SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 



123 



town customers, and this is a direct hint to the newspapers 
to go after the subscription of every person who can or may 
take advantage of this shopping inducement. The rural free 
delivery routes are a good index of the natural circulation chan- 
nels a paper may follow. Along each railroad or interurban 
road or pike, the same is true. But, with circulation a loss, 
because of the cost of white paper and the refusal of adver- 
tisers to be interested longer in remote subscribers, the tend- 
ency will be more and more to concentrate in the natural retail 
trading radius of each city. 

Circulation Outside the Retail Radius 

To illustrate the kind of circulation that is of no transient 
value to local advertisers in the large city papers, the accom- 
panying diagram may be employed: 



^CHICAGO 




NASHVILLE 
'MEMPHIS 

Chart 3. Circulation Outside Retail Radius 



124 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Newspapers in each of these cities seek and have circula- 
tion in Paducah, Ky., yet no one in Paducah can take advantage 
of the department store or other local advertising in these 
papers unless there is held a semiannual sale, or unless orders 
are sent by mail. Yet Paducah people want to read these 
metropolitan papers and on Sunday do read them to an amazing 
extent. In the rural districts where delivery is by mail the 
subscribers customarily get their city papers cheaper than the 
people in the cities of publication, because mail rates are lower 
than by carrier. If advertisers grow less and less inclined to 
pay for this sort of circulation, or at the most will pay only 
a fraction of what they are willing to pay for circulation 
within the retail trading radius, the newspapers either must 
drop the business, or get more circulation revenue from it. 
They are actually doing both, and will more and more decline 
to accept remote circulation, or to pay a large promotion ex- 
pense to obtain it. 

Foreign advertisers derive some benefit from this wide- 
spread circulation if such advertisers have a close national dis- 
tribution of their goods, yet they may find it advisable to use 
also the local papers, and thus they are duplicating circulation. 
Hence, foreign advertisers are even more interested in cir- 
culation within a newspaper's natural territory. They will use 
papers strong in their respective fields. For example, Royal 
Baking Powder could not count the Paducah circulation of The 
Cincinnati Enquirer of any special value, because Royal will 
certainly use the local papers there. It will, therefore, prefer 
to buy Paducah circulation without duplication. 

The whole point in this discussion is not that newspapers 
should refuse to sell to distant customers, but that they should 
cease to go after such business except on subscription terms 
that will make the subscriber profitable as a subscriber without 
regard to advertising revenue. The members of the advertis- 
ing department usually will be able to give expert advice on 



SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 125 

whether such circulation is profitable from the advertising 
standpoint, for they are the salesmen of circulation, and if they 
can sell remote circulation as profitably as home-delivered cir- 
culation, the question is answered. 

In the meantime, straws show which way the wind is blow- 
ing, and the circulation manager with a good weather eye will 
steer for the haven of concentrated circulation just as close to 
his swivel chair as it can be obtained. 

Handling Suburban Circulation 

Owing to the many chances of a slip, the work of handling 
suburban circulation is more exacting than the city delivery. 
A system of substitute agents must be worked out, or the 
paper's traveling representatives must be able to take hold 
anywhere on brief notice, in order to give satisfactory service. 
Sometimes it is necessary to put an agent on a salary to insure 
this. 

Many circulation managers now are applying the same 
methods in stimulating the carrier boys in these surrounding 
towns that have proved effective in the home city. Contests 
are started among them with gratifying results in new business 
and increased efficiency. The Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Press 
offered a $40 bicycle to the carrier in two of its suburban 
towns who obtained the most new subscribers in a month. 
The winner sent in 27 subscriptions and a total of 93 new 
subscribers was added in these two towns as a result of the 
contest. 

The usual method of building this sort of circulation is for 
the paper's salaried representative to enter a town, spend a 
week or any period in soliciting, find a boy who can handle 
the new business and appoint him agent, show him how to 
handle collections, complaints, stops, and give him a stimulus 
to get new business. Then the representative keeps in touch 
with the town until the agency is on an assured basis. Pre- 



126 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

miums frequently are used in this missionary work, or com- 
binations with the local paper. 

Rural Circulation 

Mail subscriptions are profitable business if the subscription 
price is right, because they are easily handled at the home 
office. The postage rate of one cent a pound makes delivery 
charges the lowest of any kind of distribution. 

Where there is a carrier delivery, or agent, in a town, the 
paper will not deliver by mail, although mail subscriptions often 
are two dollars or more under the price by carrier. That is, 
a $3 paper by mail is usually $5 by carrier. Mail business 
goes to rural routes and to towns where there are no agents. 

Solicitors have found it necessary to accommodate pay- 
ments to the seasons when farmers have money, and so the 
practice of taking promissory notes has grown up. It is really 
a good one because the average farmer is good for his signature 
to a piece of paper. A note is better than credit. It puts the 
obligation in tangible form to stare the obligor in the face until 
it is paid. 

Rural Subscription Schemes 

Rural circulation is obtained by personal solicitation, or 
by circularizing, and premiums are almost universally used. 
Farmers seem interested in premiums, and the papers would 
rather give a premium than cut the price outright. Combina- 
tions with farm journals, and with women's publications, prove 
effective, because the farmer's wife is a big factor in determin- 
ing what shall come into the home. 

The Salt Lake City Telegram has a plan of giving the 
fourth month free if the subscriber pays for the first three 
months. This is an attractive scheme as it puts the bait ahead. 
To give the first month free would not be nearly so effective. 

Renewals should always be worked vigorously by mail, with 



SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 127 

and without premiums, before personal solicitation starts. The 
Louisville Herald, and many papers, have a bargain day, when 
the price is cut from 25 to 40 per cent, and many thousands of 
orders are received. One advantage is that it makes expira- 
tions come at one time. October is a good month for a bar- 
gain day. 

The Minneapolis News had a highly successful rural cam- 
paign for subscriptions by starting a contest among farmers 
with two new tractor engines as prizes. The News adver- 
tised the contest in the farm papers and so enlisted many non- 
readers. These engines were newly on the market and the 
farmers responded tremendously. 

The Rural Solicitor 

Rural solicitors now have abandoned the horse and buggy 
for the motor cycle and automobile, if the roads will permit 
the change. A paper in one of the smaller cities maintains 
a solicitor all the year round on a salary of $25 a week, and 
he has his own automobile. Premiums costing as high as 
33 cents each have been used, but 25 cents is the usual cost. 
The selling expense for premium and solicitor does not ex- 
ceed 35 per cent of the $3 mail price. 

When solicitors are on commission, The Indianapolis News 
allows about 25 per cent. Ordinary agents are allowed 16 per 
cent, that is, the agent buys the paper for $2.50 and sells it 
for $3. If The News offers a combination with a national 
magazine, the agent gets the offer for $2.65 and sells it for 
$3, thus receiving 15 cents less commission as The News 
charges him part of the cost of the premium. This makes it 
more profitable to the agent to get business without a pre- 
mium. 

The principle of the premium is to give part of the com- 
mission to the subscriber in the form of a premium. The 
solicitor will try to make a straight sale on which his com- 



128 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

mission is largest. Failing here, instead of cutting the price, 
he offers an inducement in the form of a premium, or com- 
bination with another periodical. He has really shared his 
commission with the subscriber. The paper, too, has made a 
concession in its profits. 

If a knife set costs at wholesale 25 cents, and the agent's 
commission is 35 cents, the total selling cost is 60 cents, which 
is only 20 per cent of $3. A paper which can get new business 
at a selling cost of not over 20 per cent is doing well and can- 
not complain. 

From this minimum selling expense, papers go as high as 
50 per cent. Efficiently managed papers like The Portland 
Oregonian keep the selling expense around 35 per cent and 
even less. Selling cost includes more than solicitor's com- 
missions and premiums. It may include livery hire or hotel 
bills, for instance. 

Meeting the Farmer's Needs 

Practically all newspapers now have special departments 
devoted to the interests of the farmers. Helpful articles on 
farm management are printed daily, and the paper consequently 
has a special as well as a general interest for rural readers. 
When, as is often the case, 50 per cent of a paper's subscribers 
live out of the city of publication, the news policy must nat- 
urally and necessarily conform to the particular needs of these 
rural readers. 

The farmer used to be a man with little time to read any- 
thing. The advent of scientific farming, the diffusion of this 
knowledge, and the growth of marketing associations, make 
it imperative for him to keep abreast of the daily news. 
Newspapers have stimulated this increased efficiency as well 
as profited by it in enlarged circulations. Advertisers, too, 
are reaping the benefit of the conversion of the rural resident 
into a more frequent customer. 



SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 129 

Handling the State Edition 

When a train schedule has to be made, the circulation man- 
ager drops the " I should worry " feeling and gets strictly on 
the qui vive. The managing editor may be holding the edition 
to get in an important story, and the minute hand of the clock 
tells the circulation manager that he will have only three min- 
utes to make the mail, eight blocks away. 

He makes it and wipes the perspiration from his brow, 
closes his desk, and is happy until precisely the same time 
the next day. Perhaps the organization is big enough for 
him to shift this worry to an assistant, but somebody has it 
all the time. 

Inasmuch as railroads ordinarily will not revise their 
schedules to suit the convenience of newspapers, the editions 
have to be planned with reference to the schedules. This has 
developed the practice of predating editions, that is, changing 
the date line on the last evening edition and dating it the follow- 
ing morning; or, if a morning paper, the mail is made by 
printing an early edition, with only a few hours' more news 
than the last evening editions. 

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal runs several special 
trains to handle its country circulation, down into Mississippi, 
up into Tennessee, and across into Arkansas. The first one 
is popularly known as " Old Miss," and the Tennessee mail is 
handled on a train entitled " Whiskey Dick," because, this 
being prohibition territory, the train carries much liquor by 
express to the thirsty inlanders. 

The Louisville Courier- Journal ran an automobile delivery 
through the Bluegrass section of Kentucky to serve the people 
of that section before the train mails could reach them. The 
Indianapolis News has salaried agents at junction points to see 
to it that the bundles are transferred from train to train with- 
out fail. Many examples of this sort of enterprise could be 
cited. 



130 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Local Distributions of State Edition 

After the papers reach their destinations, they are caught 
up quickly by the local agents, and carriers soon have them on 
the lawns of subscribers. Sometimes each paper will have a 
different agent, but often one man or boy represents all foreign 
papers. Reverting to Paducah, Ky., again, a typical example, 
the St. Louis, Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, and 
Cincinnati papers have one agent, who handles a corps of 
carriers. The week-day circulation is about one-eighth of the 
Sunday sales, which require about thirty boys. 

The Indianapolis News has separate forms for reports 
from its own agents, and from agents who also represent other 
papers. 1 The daily report required from its own agents shows 
the condition of the weather and the temperature, whether 
papers are received by mail, express, or traction, and the rea- 
son for a delay if one occurs. The bundles received to be 
transferred to connecting lines, with the time of arrival and 
departure, also must be reported. 

The agent must note the stops and the reasons as given 
by subscribers. Later a traveling representative will investi- 
gate these stops. These traveling representatives also devote 
their time to soliciting and turn over to the agent without 
charge all business obtained. The agent himself must report 
the amount of work he does in soliciting, investigating com- 
plaints, and running down stops. Many papers do not ex- 
ercise so close a supervision over their agents, contenting them- 
selves with writing them letters if sales fall off. 

State Edition and Local Papers 

The News has a plan of combining its circulation work 
with the circulation department of the local paper. Under 
this arrangement, one circulation manager acts for both, and 
usually is selected by The News. A higher salary is paid 

l See Forms 28, 30. 



SUBURBAN AND RURAL CIRCULATION 



I3i 



him by the combination than either would alone. Efforts are 
specialized on obtaining club orders ; and a cut in price, if 
both papers are ordered, is made that makes the combination 
attractive. The argument is : " Take the home paper for 
local news and The Indianapolis News for state and general 
news." 

The benefits of this system as enumerated by John M. 
Schmid, in an article in The Fourth Estate, are reprinted in 
parallel columns, showing the advantage to The News in the 
first column and to the local paper in the second column : 



The News 

1 — A larger and better carrier or- 
ganization. 

2 — Headquarters with the local news- 
papers, which provides office help, tele- 
phone service, furniture, etc., without 
cost. 

3 — It is easier to get business for a 
good local paper and a state paper at 
low cost, than for a state paper alone. 

4 — Premiums and contests are un- 
necessary, as the combination in itself 
is a big inducement. 

5 — The News controls the circulation 
of both papers, and consequently is able 
to introduce a better system for han- 
dling the circulation than the local 
paper can, because in most instances 
the local circulator is a reporter, ad- 
vertising solicitor, and " maid-of-all- 
work," as well, and can't do the circu- 
lation department justice. 

6 — As the combination embraces 
small surrounding towns, therefore the 
circulator in charge is in constant 
touch with these places — saving fre- 
quent calls by regular traveling men. 

7 — Rural route circulation is easier 
to get under this arrangement on ac- 
count of the low price for both papers. 
Commission usually paid to solicitors 
goes to the subscriber. 

8 — The News gets the benefit of pub- 
licity in the local press without cost. 

9 — " Deadhead " circulation is almost 
entirely eliminated, excepting to adver- 
tisers, employees, and charitable in- 
stitutions. Every Tom, Dick, and 
Harry who usually thinks he is entitled 
to a " free " copy of the local paper 
must pay for it under this arrange- 
ment. 



Local Paper 

1 — It receives a net revenue for each 
copy, regardless of returns, losses on 
collections from carriers or subscribers, 
or other shrinkage usually incident to 
the circulation department. It knows 
positively what it will get for its circu- 
lation from week to week. 

2 — It saves the expense of a circula- 
tion man and frequently several boys 
around the plant who carry bundles or 
make delivery to newsdealers, etc. 

3 — It has a direct supervision of 
everything that goes on, because all 
business is conducted in its office with 
a competent man in charge, which is 
not usually the case when it handles 
the circulation alone. 

4 — In all cases where a competent 
circulator is employed by the local pa- 
per, he is- put in charge usually at an 
advanced salary. 

5 — The system being uniform 
throughout the State, The News is 
able to send a substitute circulation 
man to relieve the regular man, if 
absent for any reason. 

6 — All solicitors who canvass for new 
business, work as hard for the local 
paper as they do for The News; in 
fact, they work for a " combination " 
order first, which is of mutual advan- 
tage. 

7 — The local publisher has nothing to 
worry about circulation at all. He is 
relieved of all his troubles in that re- 
spect, and as a rule they are many in 
a small newspaper office. 

8 — Carriers receive more profit for 
delivering a " combination " than they 
do for delivering one paper alone, con- 
sequently their efforts are directed to- 



132 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

10 — The combination can be made ward inducing prospective subscribers 
with any local paper of good standing, to take both papers, 
regardless of political affiliations or 9 — The local paper receives the ad- 

policy, vice and counsel of a big organization 

with a large staff of competent men, 
and consequently is able to meet 
stronger local competitors on even 
ground. 

The weekly report which is required of its own agents 
by The News, in towns where there is no combination with 
the local paper, shows the distribution by carriers, news-stands, 
newsboys, and miscellaneous, for each day in the week. Col- 
lections are itemized in the same way, and so are expenses. 
Unsold copies are returned every four or five weeks at the 
expense of The News and deductions are then made from the 
agent's bills. In addition to this a daily report on unsold 
copies is required. 

Prestige vs. Expense in Foreign Circulation 

Whether it is worth while to have your paper on sale in 
distant cities where no carrier business is practicable, is a 
mooted point. The man from Davenport, Iowa, who finds his 
home paper on sale in Chicago may be impressed favorably, 
and if this sort of enterprise can be done without great ex- 
pense it is advisable. It comes down to how much you are 
willing to spend for the prestige of announcing that your 
paper is on sale in other cities. 



CHAPTER XI 

ESPRIT DE CORPS OF THE CIRCULATION 
DEPARTMENT 

Circulation Manager's Preparation for His Work 

Circulation managers cannot spend time more profitably 
than in reading the various books available on sales manage- 
ment. For newspaper circulation is a sales proposition pure 
and simple, and the principles that underlie a sound sales 
policy for, say, shoes will with the proper adaptation apply to 
selling newspapers. 

The chief difference between the circulation manager of a 
newspaper and the sales manager of a manufacturing concern 
is that the one deals with boys, while the other deals with men. 
But the psychology of the boy mind is not radically different 
from the psychology of the man mind. 

What stimulates the one to the greatest effort, will stimu- 
late the other — namely, arousing his self-interest by intelligent 
training and co-operation and adequate rewards for his 
achievements. The man salesman may want his rewards in 
cash ; the boy may be most interested in a bicycle or a Shetland 
pony, but the principle is the same. 

You may obtain the enthusiastic loyalty of a boy sales- 
force by a free trip to the circus, and of the man sales-force 
by a banquet and theater party; yet the same appeal is made 
to each, with a difference in form only. 

Hence, the circulation manager owes it to himself to be 
abreast of the latest ideas and principles of sales management. 
There is a wealth of material to draw from. If the circula- 

133 



134 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

tion manager has his eye on the position of advertising mana- 
ger, or business manager, he needs a broad knowledge of busi- 
ness economics. 

It has been shown conclusively that sales managers do not 
have to employ high-salaried men exclusively to get results. 
If the average man is given a scientific training and employed 
under a system which stimulates his zeal and appeals to his 
self-interest, he will regularly and at much lower cost produce 
results which eclipse those of the star salesman. 

The lesson for the circulation manager in this is that he 
need not exhaust himself selecting the highest class solicitors, 
or carrier boys, provided he is himself so well up on the 
work that he can develop in the average solicitor or carrier 
the qualities of a good salesman. 

Circulation Manager's Responsibility 

You enter some circulation departments and the atmosphere 
at once repels you. An investigation will show almost in- 
variably that this originates with the circulation manager. 
He is fretful, easily ruffled and sullen, while his attitude 
toward subordinates is domineering and not always just or 
tactful. It is not surprising that the whole force reflects this 
example. Everyone jostles and irritates his fellow-workers; 
questions are answered crossly; favors are granted grudg- 
ingly. If you follow this far enough you will find it reach- 
ing the subscriber, with most harmful consequences for the 
newspaper. 

On the other hand, you enter another office and the at- 
mosphere is in pleasing contrast with that of the one described 
above. The workers are going about their tasks quietly and 
efficiently. The circulation manager is busy, but has his work 
so well in hand that you get a cordial reception and realize that 
the stress and strain of the other office is gratuitous. There 
is a feeling of loyalty, of co-operation, of " this is my news- 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 135 

paper." And if you follow this far enough you will find that 
it reaches the subscriber, with most beneficial results to the 
newspaper. 

The circulation manager sets the pace and gives the inspira- 
tion to the whole department. Therefore, one of his chief 
qualifications is the ability to obtain results without friction, 
and to see to it that the contact of the public with the paper 
through his subordinates is constructive. If the solicitor, or 
carrier boy, gets a kind word and a square deal in the office, 
he will meet the prospective or actual subscriber in the same 
spirit. 

There are circulation managers holding important posi- 
tions and rated as successful who believe that bully-ragging, 
brow-beating, and merciless driving are the only methods of 
producing results, but this type is passing in newspaper organi- 
zations just as it is in other industrial concerns. The modern 
watch-words are co-operation, inspiration, enthusiasm, and 
optimism — and the modern circulation manager reflects them. 

Efficiency Through Personal Influence 

That many circulation managers are on the right track is 
proved by the effective schemes employed to reach the maxi- 
mum sales efficiency. A review of some of these ideas will be 
profitable. 

First of all, the cordial acquaintanceship so essential to any 
kind of esprit de corps, is cultivated by the circulation manager 
with his entire organization. The ways of doing this include 
get-together meetings and banquets, at which practical, enthus- 
ing talks on selling are made, and the spirit of co-operation 
extolled. Having established his individuality, the circulation 
manager continues to impress it upon the force in letters, 
circulars, or monthly bulletins, or through a house organ which 
is filled with " ginger " talks and examples of efficient work 
among the employees. 



I3 6 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

As the organization grows larger, the temptation of the 
circulation manager to grow away from the rank and file is 
strong, but such a course usually results in decreased efficiency. 
A close scrutiny of daily and weekly reports, and regular con- 
tact with the men in the field keep the circulation manager in 
that vital relation to the practical side of the department with- 
out which he is likely to become supertheoretical. 

The Carrier Problem 

An especially commendable feature of some offices is the 
large, well-appointed room in the building exclusively for the 
use of the carriers. Here they congregate while waiting for 
the edition to come off the press, and here also they have even- 
ing entertainments and the meetings of their association, if 
they are permitted one by the circulation manager. 

Conduct in this room is regulated by the boys themselves, 
under the direction of the circulation manager, who is their 
adviser and unobtrusive king. The manager will see to it that 
only gentlemanly conduct is tolerated in this room or any- 
where about the building. This is because he realizes that 
unless a sales and delivery force has at least civil instincts, the 
public will be the chief sufferer and the paper will feel a reflex 
effect of a highly damaging character. 

It is highly important from every viewpoint to cultivate 
decent proclivities in the whole delivery and sales force. This 
will create an atmosphere which is sure to secure popular good 
will for the publication. It will make the best boys want to 
be with such a paper. A carrier boy who naturally has, or 
is trained to acquire, a pleasing address, is a big asset. 

Recruiting the carrier force is governed by the same princi- 
ples that regulate the hiring of salesmen in other enterprises. 
Good boys must be handled carefully, they must be shown the 
dignity of the work, and the opportunity it affords for valuable 
business training which will equip them for manhood work. 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 137 

If the circulation manager cannot see every applicant, he will 
prescribe explicit instructions for the assistant selecting them. 

The boy's home surroundings are to be considered, for if 
these are good the task of training him will be much easier 
than if his environment there is loose and possibly unprinci- 
pled. A hard and fast rule cannot be observed, inasmuch as 
many efficient boys have come from undesirable homes, but, 
generally speaking, good homes produce the best boys. 

One of the best assets any newspaper can have is a reputa- 
tion for good treatment of its news and carrier boys. Good 
treatment means more than a pleasant smile. It means a square 
deal to the boy in a dispute with a subscriber, a fair compensa- 
tion, human contact, and an enlightened consideration of his 
interests and ambitions with a friendly boost to both. The 
paper which builds such a reputation will have a waiting list 
of the best boys, the pick of the field. 

Extra Compensation for Carriers 

While visits to the circus, theaters, baseball games, annual 
picnics, trolley rides, and similar entertainment features can- 
not take the place of fair pay for services performed, they go 
a long way toward arousing the latent energies and capacities 
of the boys, and lend color and life to an otherwise drab routine 
of work. In addition to these features, many circulation man- 
agers are experimenting successfully with the efficiency methods 
in vogue among manufacturing concerns, and are thereby de- 
veloping salesmanship of a most gratifying quality in the boys 
who carry their papers. 

Extra compensation takes many forms. The St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch gives an entire edition as a Christmas gift to 
its carriers. The Indianapolis News gives each of its 1,600 
boys an order on any store which advertises in The News for 
one dollar's worth of merchandise. At New Year's nearly 
every paper prints a card or folder, usually with a poem, on 



138 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

the sterling qualities of the newsboy who serves the subscriber 
in all kinds of weather. 

An objection to this last time-honored practice is the fact 
that it throws the cost of the gift upon the subscriber, whereas 
the paper should bear the expense entirely. Doubtless most 
subscribers are glad to invest ten cents or a quarter in the 
souvenir, particularly if the boy has been agreeable, but the 
practice is bad in principle because it causes the boy to look 
to the customer for a gift. In other words, this system of 
carrier compensation degenerates into the tipping or commis- 
sion-splitting evil so repugnant to self-respecting Americans, 
whether young or old. 

Efficiency Contests 

The love of a contest is by no means confined to the readers 
of a paper. The solicitors can be stimulated to greater exer- 
tions by setting up a standard and offering prizes for reaching 
or exceeding it. The carriers can be influenced in the same 
manner. Great industrial concerns with hundreds of sales- 
men regularly hold efficiency contests, or sales contests among 
their traveling representatives, and circulation managers are 
studying these methods to apply them to their own problems. 

In Chapter IX it was noted that a bonus of pay was given 
for collecting certain percentages of accounts of subscribers. 
A contest may be arranged for the most subscriptions turned 
in in one day, or one month, or longer periods. The Jackson 
(Mich.) Citizen Press is a case in point. 

R. S. Craft, circulation manager of that publication, early 
in 1914 began the publication of a monthly bulletin, or house 
organ, for the carrier force, numbering about 72 boys. It is 
entitled "The Citizen Press Jr.," and is 8, 12, or more pages 
monthly, the pages being 6 by 9 inches in size. 

A contest was started for the month of October, 19 14, with 
a bicycle as the prize for the carrier bringing in the largest 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 139 

number of subscriptions during the month. The winner turned 
in 33 subscriptions. He had his picture (with the bicycle) in 
the next issue of The Citizen Press Jr., and on the back page 
of the publication appeared the following breezy, and, to the 
boys, interesting comment : 

Probably the happiest boy between California and Maine 
is Ernest Birney, that bright, hustling chap who carries 
route 47 for The Citizen Press, and the reason is simple, 
for Erney won that fine new Premier Bicycle which The 
Citizen Press gave to the boy bringing in the largest num- 
ber of new subscriptions during the month of October. 

When it was announced last Saturday night that Erney 
won the wheel, he just couldn't check that smile which cov- 
ered his face completely. Erney said : " I have wanted a 
wheel for a long time, and worked hard every day to win 
this one, but I thought sure that George Stone or some 
other boy would beat me out of it." 

Ernest is right. He certainly worked hard for that bicycle 
and every person not a subscriber, living on his route or 
near his home was asked to subscribe to this paper. And 
he proved to be a good solicitor, too, for he brought in 33 
subscriptions during the month. This is the largest number 
of new subscribers ever turned in by any one boy in any 
contest The Citizen Press has had. This will average better 
than one a day during the contest, which is surely a pretty 
good record for any boy to hang up. 

Ernest's work was far-reaching, too, for he secured sub- 
scriptions from all parts of the city. 

He carries about 115 papers on his route every day and 
does most of his collecting Saturday mornings. He comes 
to the office every night at 7 o'clock and carries any papers 
that the regular carriers happen to miss. For all this work 
he makes between $4 and $5 a week. 

Ernest is one of our very best carriers. He delivers his 
papers well and his collections are always up to the minute. 

He is a real live wire, and The Citizen Press is to be 
congratulated for having him, and boys like him, deliver- 
ing its papers. 

We wish to congratulate you, Ernest, for your success in 
landing this fine prize against such competition as only 69 
Citizen Press carriers could give. 



140 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Unquestionably, here is a circulation manager on the right 
track. The value of the contest cannot be measured in the 
number of subscriptions turned in, which, of course, from all 
the boys was great. The increased interest the boys display 
from the stimulation of the contest will show for months in 
better delivery, better collections, and more alertness to the 
paper's interests. 

The House Organ as an Efficiency Medium 

A perusal of this same issue of The Citizen Press Jr. will 
give many interesting and helpful sidelights on handling the 
carriers. The front page was occupied, as noted, with the 
picture of the prize-winning carrier. Page 2 contained an 
announcement that bicycle bells and lamps, retail value $2.50 
and $3, would be given for new subscriptions as follows : 

$3.00 Carbon Light 9 New Subs. 

$2.50 Carbon Light 7 New Subs. 

Good-Enough Bell 1 New Sub. 

Every boy with a wheel needs either a bicycle bell or 
lamp, or both. $2.50 and $3.00 is a lot to spend for a lamp, 
and not many boys can afford it, but we have solved the 
problem for you. Get busy today and get that light this 
week. 

Page 3 has the headline " With the Live Wires " and is 
rilled with personals about the different carriers, a few ex- 
amples being: 

William Dredge has shot everyone on Route 51, that is 
with the new Premo that he received for five new subs. 

La Duke, on Route 36, has just received a new wireless 
outfit. Don has taken great interest in this new method of 
communication, and we wish him all the success in the 
world. 

Herman Scheele, on Route 57, was the first boy to turn in 
a new subscription on the bicycle contest. 

" Chuck " Riley, on Route 38, received a vest pocket 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 14* 

flash light for two new subs. Chuck says they surely 
come easy. 

On Oct. 1st, a three-day contest was started for the 
sellers. The boy that sold the most papers was to receive 
a flash light. Max Howland started out with all the pep 
he had. He sold 124 papers during the three days. This 
was thirty more than any other seller disposed of. Of 
course Max carried away the light. We still claim that 
Max is some seller. 

Scattered over the pages are jokes of peculiar significance 
to the carriers, as follows : 

Birney — Say, O'Connell, did you know that I am a 
contractor ? 

O'Connell — How do you figure that? 

Birney — Well, I am building up the Citizen Press Cir- 
culation. 

Boys, ask Jack how he came to fall into the flour barrel. 

In connection with the sellers', or newsboys', contest noted 
above, an entertainment celebrating its conclusion was given, 
and the account of it follows : 

Previous to the world's series, the sellers agreed that the 
Pink Sporting Extra which The Citizen Press was going 
to issue daily would be the best seller in town, and that it 
was, therefore, the one to sell. The boys took hold so well 
and were so enthusiastic over this Pink Extra that we de- 
cided that a good-time party was a proper reward. 

On Thursday, Oct. 29, The Citizen Press gave the boys a 
real Hallowe'en party in the carriers' room. The room was 
decorated with yellow and black streamers and jack o'lan- 
terns. One happy looking jack o'lantern represented a 
Citizen Press seller because the papers sold so well he 
always wore a smile. The small sad jack o'lantern repre- 
sented the boy who sold some other paper and not the C-P. 
As they wouldn't sell, he couldn't smile. The fellow doing 
the big business naturally smiles. 

During the evening the boys were supplied with all the 
pop-corn balls, doughnuts, and apples they could eat. 

The lucky boys to win prizes in the drawing contests 
were as follows: Fred Eberhart won a flash light; 



142 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Clifford Coloumbe won a bike bell; Albert Barker, Max 
Howland, and Leo Nelson won jack o'lanterns. 

After the games were played, the boys spent the balance 
of the evening telling conundrums and stories. Pat Cooper 
also entertained with a song and dance. 

We will leave it to the boys if the C-P isn't the best 
paper to sell all the time. 

On the editorial page is the motto " A Square Deal for 
Every Boy." The first editorial treats of better service in 
winter. It points out that subscribers expect their papers in 
clean condition regardless of the weather. There is another 
editorial on " Politeness," evidently contributed by one of the 
carriers. The circulation department's watchful care of the 
boys is shown in an editorial warning them about reckless 
riding of bicycles at street intersections, and the page is con- 
cluded with remarks on " complaints." " Put the paper on the 
porch where the subscriber can find it at a glance. If the 
paper is thrown on the ground it is counted as a complaint." 
This is the right idea of service! 

Page 5 has a poem of interest to boys and another premium 
offer : " Who Wants It ? An all-wool worsted Jersey 
sweater, turtle collar and cuffs ; ' Jackson Citizen Press ' in 
wool felt letters sewed across the front. It's a dandy and yours 
for only 5 new subscriptions. Bring your subscriptions in 
early and get the sweater at once. You will need it these cool 
nights." 

It should be stated, in connection with the use of the word 
" subscriptions " that this does not refer to yearly, but to 
sixteen weeks' subscriptions. Every boy is paid 25 cents for 
each signed order from a person ordering The Citizen Press 
for sixteen weeks. In this case, the money is in the form of 
a handsome sweater. 

Page 6 is devoted to the " State Agents." A contest is 
announced between the carriers of two suburban towns with 
a bicycle as the prize to the boy who turns in the most sub- 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 143 

scriptions in one month. There were six carriers in one of 
these towns and seven in the other. The next monthly issue 
gave the picture of the winning boy, in the former town. He 
turned in 27 new subscriptions, while his rival in the other 
town turned in 24. Altogether the boys in both towns turned 
in 93 subscriptions. 

The winning boy sent in a letter telling how he won the 
prize, and it was published as follows : 

Dear Sir: — 

I was very glad to hear that I had won. The boys of 
Albion, I suppose, were very sad indeed that they didn't 
win. I thank you very much for kindness you showed me 
and I know I will like the prize. 

It was not the will power that made me win, but it was 
the determination that I wanted that wheel. I asked every- 
body I met if they didn't want to take the C-P and if they 
refused I would ask them the next time I saw them till 
they signed to get rid of me. 

I always asked them if they didn't want to help me win 
a bicycle first before I asked them to sign for the paper, 
and I think that helped me to get subscribers. I hope I may 
win more prizes. 

From your friend, 

Robert Morlock, Jr. 

Page 7 had a poem entitled " It Can Be Done," which tore 
to pieces the popular slang expression to the contrary, and 
still another premium offer. It was a clutch pencil which 
would be given to every boy who turned in one new sub- 
scriber. 

There were two interesting features on page 8. The first 
was an account of a party given at a moving picture theater 
for the carriers who had not been complained of during the 
month. Thirty boys enjoyed this party, or nearly 50 per 
cent of the force, which is a good showing. Such emphasis 
placed upon good service is better than all the iron discipline 
in the world. The account of the good time the boys had 



144 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

would make any boy determine to avoid complaints in order to 
get to the next entertainment. 

The second feature was a column of " changes in carriers " 
for various reasons. Three boys were discharged during the 
month for not taking proper care of collections, for having 
three complaints in one night, and for using bad language on 
the route. Three boys quit for moving away from a route, 
for being " too tired " to carry papers, and for working other- 
wise after school hours. 

In the case of the carrier discharged for poor collecting, 
the following comment was made: 

Any boy that is not interested enough in his route to take 
care of his collections will never succeed. Every boy must 
endeavor to pay his bill in full before Wednesday night. 
If he fails to do that and we find it is negligence on his 
part, he will be discharged at once. If you cannot get your 
money report it and we will assist you. If you have any 
trouble on your route, do not fail to report it. We are at 
your service all the time. 

Page 9 has an article on good service, some rules of con- 
duct emphasizing neatness, honesty, politeness, helpfulness, 
clean language, and tact, a letter from a satisfied subscriber 
commending the carrier, and an invitation to the carriers to 
suggest what articles they prefer as premiums. " If there is 
anything you boys would like, let us know and we will get it 
right away." 

Showing that the circulation manager understands the 
eternal fitness of things, the October number offers footballs, 
suits, and guards as premiums for new subscriptions at the time 
every boy is playing the game. Later on, ice skates and a 
flexible flyer sled are the prizes in a contest. In the spring 
baseball goods will be featured, and the summer will have its 
own peculiar premiums. 

In the January number of The Citizen Press Jr. misspelled 
words were scattered through the reading matter and display 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT HS 

advertisements, and a prize of $i was offered to the boy who 
first found them all and made a sentence of them relating to 
his work. This made them read every word in the issue and 
so kept interest in the magazine very much alive. In the 
November issue there was an editorial to the parents of the 
boys telling them how to help the boys to succeed, and it is 
safe to assume that the parents are regular readers of the 
sprightly little periodical. It is a great advantage when the 
parents take an active interest in the boys' work. 

This extended consideration of one paper's bulletin is made 
because, while it is not the oldest, nor the best bulletin issued 
to carriers, it exemplifies the modern ideas in use by circulation 
managers. The Houston Chronicle has an excellent bulletin 
and so have many other papers, and new ones are appearing 
every month. A bulletin ties together the carriers, or solicitors, 
in a way that is impossible by ordinary personal contact. It 
plays intelligently upon their loyalty, pride, and self-interest. 

The Proper Use of Rewards 

The best system is where there are both rewards for suc- 
cessful achievements and penalties for disobedience. To have 
one without the other militates against an esprit de corps. 
To " bawl out " a carrier for not having his collections up to 
par is nothing like as effective as to give a picture show to 
those who do. This makes a boy see a reason and a reward 
for doing efficient work. 

Every now and then the carriers of The Citizen Press are 
called together and given a talk by the circulation manager 
on salesmanship, and the selling points of a paper are pointed 
out. The Citizen Press gives a boy 15 cents for every new 
" leave order " turned in without regard to the time specified. 
The prizes are always a superstimulant, playing upon the 
inherent love of a game, or contest, in human nature — the 
desire to stand out from the crowd with the laurel wreath. 



146 scientific circulation management 

The Washington Star took the public into its confidence as 
a means of creating an esprit de corps in its circulation de- 
partment. Display space was used to inform the public of 
the circulation methods, with particular reference to delivery. 
" From Press to Home Within the Hour " is this paper's 
motto, and pictures of carriers, district managers, and other 
circulation workers were used, as well as of the mechanical 
department. The result was not only increased respect for 
the work in the circulation department, but the public took a 
more personal interest in the force, and in The Star. 

An example of giving the boys a large vision of their work 
and a new sense of dignity was furnished in the action of The 
Columbus (Ohio) State Journal, which issued a special edition 
and placed the proceeds of its sales — amounting to $5,000 — 
in a charity fund to be expended by the boys themselves. 

F. C Clayton, circulation manager of The Hartford 
(Conn.) Times, makes the following report on an address he 
delivered to his carriers on the subject of " Efficient Delivery," 
in the assembly room, as reported in The Fourth Estate : 

The boys were very attentive and seemed to absorb all I 
told them, judging from the questions they put to me after- 
ward. I think we will get the results we are seeking. It 
was very gratifying to have seventy-four present out of a 
list of eighty. They did not dress for the event but came 
from their routes, some of them not even going home for 
supper they were so anxious not to be late. These boys 
range in age from thirteen to eighteen years. 

It was to get them to see that they are a very important 
wheel in the organization that I had them come and talked 
to them. When we left the office and went to the theater, 
we went in a body and they entered and took their seats in 
an orderly way. I was much surprised to hear them com- 
ment on the characters and show a very intelligent knowl- 
edge of the whole history of Rome and Julius Caesar in par- 
ticular. (This was the moving picture.) 

In New York where there are no carriers, but thousands 
of newsboys, the papers are continually doing something in 



THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 147 

their behalf, though no individual paper has its own news- 
boys. The efforts are simply for all the boys. They have 
a home that cost $100,000, and numerous philanthropic and 
educational activities center here. Theatrical managers fre- 
quently contribute to this fund by benefit performances. The 
list of successful Americans who started their careers as car- 
riers or newsboys would show a most imposing group of 
celebrities, captains of industry, and members of all profes- 
sions. 

The Saturday Evening Post owes its wonderful circulation 
record to the development of the sales possibilities of the 
American boy. This periodical has a premium department 
that affords the boys practically anything they want as prizes 
for the work they do. A psychological understanding of the 
convenience of a nickel as a purchasing unit and of the selling 
possibilities of the boy turned the trick. 

The Soliciting Force 

When the efficiency of the soliciting force is considered, 
no new principles are involved. The solicitor is a boy grown 
up. Ice skates will not stimulate him to increased exertion, 
but a gold watch as a prize is effective. If the circulation 
manager is thoroughly up on his methods, he can take average 
men, at $25 or $30 a week, and get satisfactory results. He 
may not keep enough all the time to warrant a house organ for 
them, but they will be on the job long enough to apply the 
principles of the contest. 

Having gotten the men, probably through want advertise- 
ments after much sifting, the circulation manager does just 
what the sales manager of the Burroughs Adding Machine 
Company does, namely, gives them talks on selling methods 
until he has imbued them with his policies. 

Knowing, as he does, that women are impressed by ap- 
pearances, he tactfully sees to it that the salesmen understand 



148 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

the necessity of being clean, of having unspoiled linen, polished 
finger nails, and well brushed clothes, with a thought also to 
the shoes. There is something about such a well-groomed 
(though not necessarily expensively dressed) man that arrests 
attention and makes others pause before slamming a door. 

The solicitors must know the paper from A to Z. They 
must know the editorial policy so as to be able to handle the 
prospect who tells them what he does or does not like. They 
must know all the special features, with their respective ap- 
peals to women, to men, and to children. They must know 
the markets and other departments so as to fit their arguments 
to each prospect as he indicates his bent. 

They need to have developed that subtle quality of not feel- 
ing resentment. Managers of telephone companies meet this 
situation in every new " hello " girl, who must be taught to 
accept in an impersonal way the abuse that comes from patrons. 
Solicitors are cut off rudely at times, and it takes either a 
natural or a cultivated buoyancy to rise above the feeling of 
pique that involuntarily results from such a reception. 

Finally, you must hang up in front of their eyes rewards 
for better than standard performance. This reward may be 
in the shape of a prize, or in the promise of promotion to a 
better job in the office or on the road. 

If the paper uses premiums, it is necessary to emphasize 
to the solicitors that the paper must be talked first and the 
premium afterward. By giving them a larger commission (if 
they are on commission) for subscriptions obtained without 
a premium than with one, this is accomplished in a degree. 

When a paper starts out a solicitor, it behooves it to know 
so far as it is humanly possible to know, that its representative 
is creditable and that he will not leave behind him errors which 
a star solicitor following would have difficulty in overcoming. 



CHAPTER XII 

CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCULATION CAMPAIGNS 

Analyzing Circulation Troubles 

When a publisher decides that the circulation of his news- 
paper is below par, he looks to see if the fault lies in one of 
the two following factors, or in both of them : 

1. Is the newspaper as an editorial-news product inferior 

to its competitors? 

2. Are the selling methods of the circulation department 

inferior to those of the same department of other 
papers ? 

If his analysis convinces him that the news and editorial 
policy is reasonably up to standard, he will concentrate his 
promotion expenditure in the selling department. He may put 
on a contest, he may employ premiums, he may devise special 
reader-interest schemes, or he may rely upon straight solicit- 
ing. 

On the other hand, if he decides that the facilities of 
distribution are adequate and that the circulation department 
has " sold " the territory as far as it can be sold with the 
product furnished, he will throw the larger part of the promo- 
tion expenditure into improving the quality of the newspaper. 

The New York Tribune Campaign 

The New York Tribune in 19 13 analyzed its situation and 
decided that a campaign to rejuvenate its circulation should 
proceed along editorial lines. The Tribune knew that it was 

149 



IS© SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

on sale at every news-stand and that there was no problem 
of distribution. It was solely a question of influencing selec- 
tion ; of inducing New Yorkers to choose The Tribune every 
morning instead of The World, The Times, The American, 
The Sun, or The Herald. 

The Tribune realized that selection could not be influenced 
in the desired numbers, by any of the regular circulation selling 
methods, such as contests, premiums, or straight soliciting. 
These methods would help, and were employed, but the main 
campaign was in editorial promotion. 

The Tribune, therefore, proceeded to improve itself as a 
newspaper product by raiding the editorial staffs of the other 
New York papers, and papers in other cities, for their star 
writers and artists, and the business departments for their best 
workers. 

It gathered around itself notable writers in all fields, art, 
theaters, sports, fashions, etc., the idea being that these persons 
would bring to The Tribune their personal followings of 
readers. This idea is an old one among magazines, which 
play up names like Cobb, Chambers, Rinehart, Kipling, and a 
host of others, knowing that every person who likes to read 
their stories will thereby be induced to buy the magazine. 

Young and obscure writers who complain that poor writing 
often " gets by " under an established name, need to know that 
a magazine or newspaper editor is not merely buying literature 
when he takes a story from writers like those mentioned. He 
is buying circulation for his publication, because the hundreds 
of thousands of persons who have read and enjoyed such 
authors' previous contributions will be attracted by any writing 
they do. 

Thus The Tribune could afford to pay a large salary to a 
writer on sports like Grantland Rice, on the assumption that 
his great following of sport-lovers in New York would leave 



CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCULATION CAMPAIGNS 151 

the paper with which he had been connected and come to The 
Tribune. 

Having engaged these celebrities, The Tribune used bill- 
boards, street-car cards, electric signs, advertisements in other 
newspapers and in magazines, and other means of informing 
the New York public that their articles would now appear ex- 
clusively in The Tribune. What The Tribune appropriated 
and has spent for its three-year revival campaign would 
finance a whole paper from basement to flag-pole in many 
other cities. 

The question occurs, in what degree has the expectation 
of The Tribune been realized from this constructive circula- 
tion campaign along editorial lines? Of course, the full effect 
is not evident, but it is apparent that the circulation increase 
was not as large as it should have been, and the reason is 
right on the surface. 

The Tribune is intensely Republican in politics. This 
political intensity has neutralized much of the sales value of 
the brilliant writers and artists it employed. A reader who 
liked Grantland Rice in The Mail may find The Tribune 
editorially offensive. Thus the political individuality which 
The Tribune vehemently maintains works against the full cir- 
culation-drawing power of the promotion campaign. If all 
the people who are admirers of the stars employed had come 
to The Tribune, its circulation increase would have been 
phenomenal. 

There is still another consideration which illustrates the 
essential requirement that a publisher or circulation manager 
should see, and recognize when he does see them, the broad 
currents of popular thought. The Tribune, like all Republican 
papers, suffered a circulation shrinkage in 1912 because of the 
decided trend of the country away from Republican policies. 
There were more than three-fourths of the people of the 



I5 2 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

United States thinking along Progressive or Democratic lines 
for the time being. 

This demoralization of the Republican party was accom- 
panied by a great circulation decrease of all stalwart Republican 
newspapers, The Tribune included, but as the Republican party 
comes back to its normal being, as the people begin to get back 
in the old ruts of thought and the Progressive thought is 
merged in the Republican thought, Republican papers, The 
Tribune included, will feel a circulation increase. 

Now, the current of popular thought is running as strongly 
toward The Tribune as in 1911-1912-1913 it ran away from it. 
If The Tribune had not spent a cent in promotion work, it 
would have felt this stimulus, and would have ridden this 
wave. The turning of the political tide, therefore, is a factor 
in the revival of The Tribune which only its publisher can 
appraise. For the year ending March 1, 191 5, The Tribune 
made a gain of 97 per cent in city circulation, and its policy 
of guaranteeing advertisements seems to be vindicated in an 
increased volume. 

Perhaps The Tribune was aware of the political factor 
and harnessed its promotion campaign to it. If so, it was an 
exceptionally able stroke of management. The point to be 
observed by all circulation managers is the advantage and 
necessity of being alert to, and, if practicable and righteous, 
of tying up to, the great ground-swellings of popular thought. 

The New York Evening Post Campaign 

The New York Evening Post is an example of a newspaper 
which sought circulation expansion through both editorial and 
circulation selling methods. This was done under the direc- 
tion of Emil M. Scholz, the publisher, who was brought on to 
New York from a successful career as general manager of 
the Pittsburgh Post and Sun. 

Mr. Scholz came up through all the phases of circulation 



CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCULATION CAMPAIGNS 153 

work until his knowledge of selling a paper to subscribers 
qualified him to take general supervision, including the selling 
of circulation to advertisers. He acquired a most efficient 
side-partner in Robert B. McClean, who had worked with him 
in Pittsburgh and other cities. 

The Evening Post is a three-cent newspaper of high literary 
standing, and making a specialty of business news. Only 
about 25,000 New Yorkers buy it daily, which, as circulations 
go in New York, makes The Post distinctly a class paper. 
The problem resolved itself into this : Has The Post all the 
readers to which it is entitled naturally, and can non-readers 
be educated to want a newspaper of its kind ? 

A negative answer was given to the first question and an 
affirmative answer to the second. The Post knew that there 
are many more persons who want the kind of newspaper it is, 
than actually buy it, and it also knew that there are many 
persons who could be educated into wanting a newspaper of 
its type. 

Like The Tribune, The Post employed street-car cards and 
liberal advertising outside its own columns, to inform the New 
York reader of what The Post stands for and the various 
features carried. But the most conspicuous promotion method 
was the invitation to the woman suffragists to edit one issue. 
In February, 1914, more than 20,000 copies of The Post were 
sold on the streets by the women, and in February, 191 5 — 
the date of the second woman's suffrage number — the sale 
exceeded 50,000 copies above the regular circulation. 

The great benefit from this promotion scheme was the 
introduction of The Post to thousands of new readers, in a 
way that could not otherwise have been accomplished without 
an enormous and prohibitive expense. In other words, The 
Post hitched up to one of the live issues of the day as a cir- 
culation promotion method. 

In much of its street-car, subway, and newspaper adver- 



154 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

tising The Evening Post made a direct appeal to the young 
man in business — not necessarily to the man young in years 
but to the business man youthful in his desire for informa- 
tion. Advertising of this nature, planned consistently, backed 
by a newspaper the reading of which is an education in itself, 
attracted many new readers of a substantial and permanent 
type. The scholarly quality, the informing treatment of the 
news, and absolute independence were the cardinal points and 
the keynote of the advertising. 

The net result of The Evening Post's campaign was to 
elevate its circulation to the highest point in its history of 
one hundred and fourteen years, the gain during the period 
of less than two years indicating a growth of 58 per cent. 
Many papers have fluctuated in their growth during the war 
period — The Evening Post circulation has remained stead- 
fast. Meanwhile there has been no let-up in the advertising 
of The Evening Post, its general policy being not only to 
preach advertising but to practice it. Advertising is one of 
the principal duties of The Evening Post's circulation man- 
ager. 

The Record of The New York Times 

The New York Times is a notable example of a newspaper 
which has made a wonderful record in straight circulation sell- 
ing through editorial quality alone. The Times does not use 
premiums, or contests requiring investments in subscriptions 
to win prizes. Its nearest approach to the premium idea is 
in its gift of beautiful pictures to its readers, but substantially 
it has depended upon its value as a newspaper to win its way. 

In 1898 The Times had 25,726 circulation. 

In 1915 The Times had 300,000 circulation. 

In 17 years a gain of 1,100 per cent. 

The explanation of this healthy and persistent increase is 
found partly in the rapid growth of New York's population, 



CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCULATION CAMPAIGNS 155 

but chiefly in the discernment of the publisher, Adolph S. Ochs, 
who saw and utilized the opportunity for a newspaper of The 
Times' individuality. 

The Times appeals to the mental stratum which, while not 
ultraconservative, eschews the ultrasensational. The Sunday 
Times is a beautifully groomed, refined, and enlightened news 
magazine, in sharp contrast with some of the other papers and 
their hodge-podge of side-show features and back-stairs 
scandal. 

Its pictorial supplement has been a distinguishing charac- 
teristic. The fortunate use of advanced methods, such as the 
Roto-gravure photo-reproduction process, has been one of the 
most positive circulation builders any paper has ever employed. 
The service to its readers and the public in subsidiary publica- 
tions like the Book Review, the Annalist, and the European 
War supplements and periodicals, has proved to be an im- 
portant factor in holding and attracting circulation. 

Circulation Methods in Boston 

The Boston Post is a striking example of newspaper suc- 
cess attained through the publisher's perception of the type of 
paper the local mentality would support. Edwin A. Grozier 
in 1891 took charge of The Post when it was bankrupt and 
built it up to its present commanding position — the largest 
week-day morning circulation in the United States — and a 
one-cent paper! 

In Boston also is the comparatively new Christian Science 
Monitor, which presents the highest standards of editorial and 
advertising censorship in the world. Owing to the fact that 
The Monitor was launched by a religious denomination whose 
followers are unusually loyal, its success was assured, and 
there is no way of estimating how a paper of equally high ideals 
would have fared if it had been promoted by ordinary methods. 
It has been the favorite excuse of publishers when pressed 



156 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

for an explanation of low ideals in news and advertising, that 
the public would not support, and did not want, a newspaper 
of high character. Without regard to the denominational sup- 
port The Monitor has received, it has shown that there is a 
desire for clean journalism, and its policies have had a most 
marked influence in elevating the tone of American news- 
papers. Its mail, or international edition, 12, 14, up to 24 
pages, at $5 a year, is a circulation profit because the sub- 
scription price will cover the cost of white paper and postage, 
with a good margin for overhead charges. 

Hearst Circulation Methods 

It is important to analyze the Hearst editorial policies, and 
the school of journalism of which Mr. Hearst is the chief 
exponent, because of the circulation successes that have at- 
tended his publishing enterprises. The four main principles 
may be summarized as follows : 

1. Startle the reader with the intrinsic nature of the news, 

or by the manner in which it is played up. 

2. Sermonize to him in the editorial column. 

3. Make him laugh. 

4. Play on his sense of sex. 

Wherever you find a Hearst publication, newspaper or 
magazine, these four features will be outstanding. There are, 
of course, many other features, including an aggressive news 
service ; but the foregoing principles are the magnets that draw 
circulation. 

Big type, red type, vivid, passionate words engage the 
reader's eye, as does a liberal visualization of the text with 
pictures. The elemental virtues are preached constantly, 
against the vices of gambling, drunkenness, stealing, etc. 
Understanding the stress and strain of American city life, 
humor in large doses is employed in prose and pictures. And 



CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCULATION CAMPAIGNS 157 

the reader is always sure of having his sense of sex stimulated 
by pictures of beautiful women in all stages of dress, and un- 
conventional poses. 

This concentrated appeal to a reader's emotional nature 
brings him back again and again to the paper — if he is suscep- 
tible to that sort of appeal, and the circulation of the Hearst 
publications shows how many are. In New York City The 
Evening Journal averages more than 800,000 copies daily — 
double the circulation of any competitor. 

Along with this highly seasoned mental appeal, the Hearst 
publications conduct the most vigorous circulation promotion 
methods of every description. Millions of books are sold 
with coupons, voting and other contests with valuable prizes 
are always under way, advertising in all its forms is used 
lavishly, while soliciting with and without premiums is unceas- 
ing; in short, an aggressive sales policy goes hand in hand 
with an extraordinary manufacturing, or editorial, policy. 

The Influence of Editorial Excellence 

This chapter has been devoted exclusively to considering 
circulation promotion through editorial features, because under 
keenly competitive conditions the larger part of an appropria- 
tion should go into this method. 

In New York, people buy their newspapers like they do 
theater tickets, at least a very large percentage of the people 
do ; that is, according to the current attraction. They change 
from paper to paper as new features appear and are advertised. 
All the New York papers have perfect distribution facilities, so 
that it becomes a question of influencing selection at the news- 
stands. Every one of them has an advertising appropriation 
now, just like Fairy Soap or Uneeda Biscuit, to inform the 
public of their current attractions. 

In smaller cities, newspapers cannot afford to spend the 
money on editorial features that papers in Chicago, Boston, 



I5 8 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Philadelphia, and New York do, and so the larger part of a 
promotion appropriation goes into regular subscription selling 
methods, such as contests, premiums, soliciting, etc. 

In actual practice the two main methods are blended, so 
that a paper may be said to be promoting circulation through 
editorial, or through subscription methods, according as the 
bulk of the appropriation is thrown into the scale of one or 
the other. Before closing this discussion and going into the 
subjects of special reader-interest features and of premiums 
and contests, the direct testimony of a newspaper on what 
accomplished its circulation and advertising revival is of 
practical interest. 

The New York Evening Sun in 1914 made an advertising 
gain of 324,601 lines more than all other New York papers 
combined, and a net increase of 30,000 in paid circulation. Its 
explanation follows: 

The Evening Sun's cleverness and good discretion in the 
general news handling — the common touch of its featured 
columns (Sun Dial, for instance) — the expert and com- 
plete sporting department — 

The authenticity and fairness of its war news — 

The penetration and neutrality of its famous war edi- 
torials, and — its advanced and reasonable woman's page, 
and — 

Withal its clean and handsome make-up, have so com- 
manded public interest and favor and created such confi- 
dence in it as a newspaper personality that the public and 
advertisers believe in its advertising columns as they believe 
in its news columns. 



CHAPTER XIII 

SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 

Holding the Subscriber 

After a newspaper gains a subscriber or a regular reader, 
there is the problem of holding him. This problem becomes 
difficult in proportion to the number of newspapers interested 
in winning his patronage. If the reader has two or more 
evening, or morning, newspapers from which to select, it is 
then a problem of influencing him to select your paper. 

Hence, the manager of circulation has not finished his work 
when a name is entered in the subscription list. He cannot 
sit back on the assumption that it is up to the editorial depart- 
ment to hold the reader. Some editorial departments under- 
stand that this is their function, but many do not, so the cir- 
culation manager must keep his mind busy devising ideas for 
riveting the reader to the paper. 

The individuality of each paper holds to it a certain ir- 
reducible minimum of readers, that is to say, those readers 
who like the political and other prejudices for which the paper 
stands; but this bedrock circulation is never sufficient, and 
must be augmented from the great transient, independent read- 
ing class, in order to present a circulation volume attractive to 
advertisers. 

Here is where the special reader-interest features originated. 
Variety being the spice of life among newspaper readers, no 
less than among any and all other persons, the manager of cir- 
culation, or the publisher, or the managing editor, constantly 
seeks some new thing to make the paper interesting. In this 

159 



160 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

chapter some of the conspicuously successful features will be 
analyzed in an effort to discover principles and laws. 

Basis of the Special-Feature Appeal 

It should be noted in the first place that the value of special 
features is in the talk created about a newspaper. Everybody 
talked about the toy-ship to Europe, because it came at the sea- 
son when unselfish thoughts were uppermost and the occasion 
was intensely emphasized by the horrors of war. 

" I notice that The World is going to send a shipload of 
toys to the little Belgians and other European orphans," one 
mother said to another, or one father to another, or one child 
to another. It had a universal appeal. Thousands began buy- 
ing The World to know more of the plan. 

It becomes talked about that The Sun will give a prize in 
cash to the oldest commuter, or New York worker who has 
been riding back and forth on the suburban trains for the 
longest time. The distinction, of course, is much more valuable 
than the prize, and the readers of every newspaper in New 
York, or those at least who live in the suburbs, will buy The 
Sun and figure out their commuting records. 

The New York Globe's pure food campaign was one of the 
most successful special features ever conducted in America, 
and one which rested upon the soundest reason. Its sales of 
cheap meat and eggs were a powerful play upon the material 
and moral self-interest of newspaper readers, with a sub- 
sidiary play upon their fear. The circulation result was 
gratifyingly affirmative. 

In this fight on the high cost of living, led by the news- 
papers, The Globe was in the forefront. In three days it 
sold 500,000 pounds of beef, 200,000 dozen eggs, and 263,000 
pounds of fish in an assault upon high prices, which seemed to 
be artificially created and maintained. The Globe took the 
fundamental idea that the food people eat is a vital matter 



SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 161 

and should be pure. It then employed an expert and showed 
up conditions of the most harmful character. The whole food 
situation in New York was improved and housewives bought 
The Globe in large numbers. 

" Swat-the-Fly " campaigns all over the country are ex- 
amples of a special feature which plays upon the fear of 
readers. The newspapers first established to the satisfaction 
of the readers that the fly was dangerous and then on this 
basis of fear exploited the idea to the limit. Inasmuch as every 
paper carried this feature, it had no circulation effect upon any 
one of them. 

Features such as this which cannot be specialized in one 
newspaper, at least for a time, are not good circulation features, 
though of course they may be highly proper from the view- 
points of education, reform, and principle. 

The New York Evening Post's edition by suffragists was 
a promotion feature which appealed to the prejudice of news- 
paper readers, prejudice here being used not in the sense of 
narrowness, but as indicating a positive conviction held, at the 
time, by a minority. 

Nature of Special-Feature Appeal 

The chart on the following page is an anlysis of the 
reader-interest of special features in circulation promotion 
work. Any special feature is limited by its nature to either a 
general or a class appeal, that is, to a majority or to a minority. 
The manager of circulation determines whether he wishes to 
interest the majority or a minority. 

For example, a popularity contest with prizes appeals to a 
whole community. It stirs up interest among every class of 
readers. On the other hand, an essay contest may make a 
distinct appeal to a class of readers, to school children, to 
adults interested in history, and so on. There are times when 
the circulation manager wishes to build circulation among a 



1 62 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

SPECIAL FEATURES 



SCOPE OF APPEAL 



General 



Class 



NATURE OF APPEAL 



Mental 



Moral 



ELEMENTS OF APPEAL 



Material 



Self Pride 
Interest 



Prejudioe 



RESULT OF APPEAL 



Generosity 



Fear 



Affirmative 



Negative 



CIRCULATION 
Chart 4. Analysis of Special Feature Appeal 

particular class, and then a feature appealing exclusively to 
a class is proper. 

The next step in considering a special feature is the nature 
of the appeal to be made. Readers have three sides upon 
which they may be approached, namely, the mental, moral, and 
material. The manager of circulation may appeal to any one, 
or all, of these self-interests. Usually, however, an appeal is 
made to not more than two at one time. 

A popularity contest cannot be said to make a mental appeal, 
or a moral appeal, but inasmuch as it offers prizes, and balm 
to vanity, it appeals to the material side of the reader. On the 
other hand, an essay contest appeals distinctively to the mental 
side, with a subsidiary appeal to the material side through the 
prizes, or honors, offered. 



SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 163 

A fund soliciting money to buy Christmas dinners for the 
poor is an example of a special feature that appeals to the 
reader's moral side, using the word moral in its broadest 
sense. Such a feature offers the reader no material or mental 
inducements, yet it may arouse his interest and make it more 
lasting than a feature appealing to more superficial traits. 

Each new fad or utility as it comes along is utilized by 
the papers for this kind of circulation-promotion work. Auto- 
mobile races were featured when the automobile was new. A 
while back " aeroplane meets " were the vogue. Then moving 
pictures came along and the papers rode this popular interest 
for all it was worth. Tomorrow, whatever happens to engage 
public interest will furnish material for similar exploitation. 

Nowadays, the higher grade circulation managers are em- 
ployed as much for their ability to originate special features as 
for any other reason. However, whether such features origi- 
nate in the editorial, advertising, or circulation departments, 
they all have a direct bearing upon circulation. 

The advertising manager may put on a " Dollar Day " 
bargain campaign, without a thought of the circulation effect, 
yet in so far as this feature keeps the reader interested in the 
paper, or causes non-readers to talk about the paper, it has a 
definite circulation value. The managing editor, too, may ex- 
ploit an idea found in a contributor's letter and so develop a 
human-interest feature that will invigorate the whole circula- 
tion. 

The New York Evening Sun exploited a letter written by 
a woman who asked, in view of the continuance of the European 
War after our national prayer for peace, if our faith in prayer 
had been lost. It was a timely feature that aroused wide in- 
terest, and regardless of which department originated it, was a 
circulation holder and builder. 

By a close reading of his newspaper to discern the trend 
of popular thought, the circulation manager will find many 



164 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

ideas which can be utilized to keep up reader-interest. Tech- 
nical and scientific journals frequently have ideas a little in 
advance of the general knowledge, and these can be appro- 
priated to advantage. 

When the circulation manager understands that the func- 
tion of the newspaper is to lead public interest in everything, 
and that the newspaper has an unrivaled opportunity to promote 
the welfare of the people, he will have attained a conception 
of his work that will show in a larger circulation. The same 
principle must be considered in selecting premiums, for these 
frequently are in keeping with the prevailing fad. A fly- 
swatter was good for a while ; a sanitary drinking cup rode 
another popular wave ; and so on. 

The best feature is one by which the paper renders its 
readers a real tangible service, like showing housewives how 
to market to the best advantage when prices are high, or fight- 
ing for reasonable gas or lighting rates. Any practical scheme 
for lightening the load on a reader's purse is acceptable. 
Cheap demagogy in a newspaper is not profitable. It never 
pays to be unjust to anyone. The paper must have a righteous 
cause or it cannot, in the long run, benefit its readers or hold 
them. 

Analysis of the Special-Feature Appeal 

The nature of a special feature's appeal may be subdivided 
into certain well-defined elements. For instance, you may ap- 
peal to a reader's mental self-interest, pride, prejudice, gen- 
erosity, or fear; or to his moral self-interest, pride, prejudice, 
generosity, or fear; or to his material self-interest, pride, prej- 
udice, generosity, or fear. 

Continuing the analysis, a popularity contest appeals to the 
material self-interest and pride of a majority of readers with 
an affirmative effect upon circulation. An essay contest, or 
spelling bee, makes an appeal to the mental pride and self-in- 



SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 165 

terest of readers, with a negative effect upon circulation. 

It is true that the essay contest may add new readers, but 
in this analysis, for a feature to have an affirmative effect upon 
circulation the increase must be decisive. A popularity con- 
test with prizes that adds 20,000 subscribers affects circulation 
in an affirmative way, while a spelling bee, essay contest, or 
similar special feature may do little more than hold present 
readers, or add an immaterial number of new readers. 

No argument is intended against features which do not 
produce new business but do hold present business. Such 
special features are among the most valuable promotion plans 
employed by newspapers. The circulation manager is obli- 
gated to retain present readers more than to win new ones, 
and special features preeminently do this. The essay contest 
may have appealed to an element of readers which would be 
untouched by the ordinary contest with prizes. All classes of 
readers at one time or another should be induced to take a 
more concrete interest in the paper than reading it day by day. 
Wavering customers may often be held by these features. 

The New York Evening Globe is an interesting example of 
a paper which exerts extraordinary efforts to secure the ap- 
proval and patronage of a certain class — the home circle. 
Knowing that the child is the center of a home, its school page 
is notably strong and is therefore favorably received among 
teachers and parents. Besides, its magazine page has features 
of peculiar interest to children, such as bedtime stories, etc., 
which cause parents to get the children in their laps and read 
The Globe to them. 

Incidentally, a paper which has home circulation is build- 
ing good-will among future homes, for children learn to con- 
sider the paper as part of their environment, and the tastes 
formed in early life will stay with many until manhood. 

The Globe's pure food campaign mentioned earlier in the 
chapter, may be considered as a very important instance of 



1 66 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

special-class appeal. It was a home feature because it in- 
terested women primarily, and they are the buyers of the family 
food and the guardians of the family purse. The man may 
buy a paper from a newsboy and throw it away after scanning 
the headlines. If he has a home, his wife is likely to say, 
" John, bring The Globe home ; I'm reading the pure-food 
articles." 

The shipload of toys to the orphans of the European 
War, featured by The New York World and papers elsewhere, 
is an example of a special feature with a broad appeal to the 
moral generosity of the public, with a fine tonic effect upon 
circulation. 

The New York Sun's campaign to find the oldest com- 
muter appealed to the pride of a large number of its own 
readers and to the same element among every other paper's 
readers. 

A worthy charity is always a good circulation feature, be- 
cause every reader who contributes to this kind of fund has 
made an investment of which he is proud and about which he 
will talk to his friends, invariably mentioning the paper, and 
usually his own participation. The value of these special fea- 
tures lies in just this fact that they cause one person to talk 
to another person about them. 

Main and Subsidiary Appeals of Special Features 

Features may have a main appeal to one class of readers 
and a subsidiary appeal to another class. For example, a 
" better babies " contest will interest women primarily, though 
men have a strong subsidiary interest — especially fathers. 
A popularity contest usually enlists active competition only 
among women, but as the men " pay the freight " in buying 
the subscriptions, it hardly can be classed a sex appeal. 

The New York Evening Mail's " Modified Marathon " is a 
feature with a sex appeal primarily to men and boys, but the 



SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 167 

number of women who watch the event proves that physical 
contests and athletic exhibitions have a strong subsidiary ap- 
peal for women. 

The Globe's pure food campaign had a sex appeal pri- 
marily to women, because they buy the food for the family, 
yet men took a decided interest in the feature. ■ The same 
paper uses features which have a general appeal, for instance, 
The Roberson Travelogues. 

The Brooklyn Eagle's famous " Spelling Bees " appeal 
primarily to school children, but through them to parents and 
adults, and so the feature has the widest appeal. 

The New York Times contest for " American-Made Fash- 
ions " was a most effective appeal to women primarily because 
the subject of clothes is undoubtedly uppermost in the feminine 
mind. By exploiting this characteristic, The Times helped its 
circulation decisively. 

The New York Sun's " Trip Around the World " was a 
special feature that had more than a local appeal, for the entire 
world watched its special representative as he endeavored to 
break the record. Such a feature offered splendid publicity 
points, owing to the spectacular exertions to make train and 
steamship schedules dovetail under varied difficulties. High 
government officials throughout the world helped to make the 
feature a success. 

Broader Effects of the Special Feature 

A significant fact about these features in newspapers is 
the educational, entertaining, and philanthropic effect they have 
upon readers. The music festivals given at popular prices are 
a cultural influence of inestimable value. Christmas dinners 
to the poor, like the annual event of The New York American, 
develop the best impulses of hundreds of thousands. Book- 
lovers' contests, spelling bees, and essay contests tend to raise 
the educational standards of any community. Travel lectures 



1 68 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

broaden the mental life of those who read them, and promote 
international amity. 

The newspapers, too, frequently fight battles on behalf of 
the people which are far-reaching in their beneficial conse- 
quences. The New York World led in the fight for reason- 
able taxicab rates and so saved the public hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars. The Louisville Evening Post every winter 
sells many thousands of tons of coal to its readers at cost 
prices. The Chicago Tribune is a brilliant example of a 
newspaper constantly alert to the public interests. 

Though some of the features which have been mentioned 
are of extraordinary value to readers, it would be stretching 
a point to assert that the newspapers are wholly altruistic in 
these policies, for they are not. It is apparent, however, that 
special features are in most instances a positive benefit to the 
public, and even when deliberately conceived as circulation 
promotion methods, they give a fair return for their invest- 
ments, either of interest or cash. 

Suiting the Feature to the Occasion 

Timeliness is the most important factor in using a special 
reader-interest feature. The Chicago Tribune w r as in at the 
start on the moving picture serial story in conjunction with 
the films in the theaters. While still used, this feature has 
lost its freshness. The New York papers novelize and run as 
a serial every successful play in the theaters. This is where 
the newspapers have the advantage of periodicals, which must 
wait ten days to four weeks to get a feature before the public. 

In the autumn of 19 14, The Chicago Tribune obtained a 
moving picture of European War scenes and sent it around to 
the towns in which it has circulation. This was a timely and 
effective circulation stimulant, as The Tribune's name was 
kept prominently in evidence as the sponsor of the feature. 
The relief funds raised by hundreds of papers for the suffer- 



SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 169 

ers in the war afforded an outlet for the sympathies of the 
American people, and other similar good impulses find a chan- 
nel of expression through the activities of the newspapers. 

All the Hearst papers have some live issue under dis- 
cussion with their readers all the time. The Boston Post dur- 
ing the winter of 1914-1915 featured a " Build Now" cam- 
paign, based on the low cost of materials and labor on account 
of the business depression caused by the European War. The 
same hard times gave The New York Evening Mail the idea 
of a " Save-A-Home Fund," contributed by its readers to 
keep poor families from being ousted from their homes for 
unpaid rent. 

The newspapers have led in the cause of good roads. 
They have advanced the idea of conserving the natural re- 
sources by distributing trees, and of beautifying the country 
by distributing flowers at cost prices. The Louisville Herald 
imported a culinary expert and held a cooking school with 
marked benefits to the women of that city who attended. It 
would take several chapters to enumerate all the ways in which 
newspapers have helped their readers in solving economic 
problems, in attaining a higher culture, or greater human- 
itarianism. 

Advertising and Circulation Co-operation 

Frequently the circulation manager and the advertising 
manager can act together on a feature. The Atlanta Consti- 
tution has exerted this double pull upon advertising and cir- 
culation with success. A contest over trade-marks of ad- 
vertised goods, with prizes, turns the trick. Or, the want 
ads afford the same opportunity, with prizes for picking the 
best. 

Co-operative work of this kind, it would seem, could be 
much more frequent than it is. The development of team- 
work between the circulation and the advertising departments, 



170 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

or between the circulation and editorial departments, or among 
all three departments, is receiving more and more attention 
from business managers and publishers. The go-it-alone policy 
of each department is disappearing. 

Special Features and Small Newspapers 

While the features here described have been devised and 
employed mostly by metropolitan papers, there is no reason 
why the publishers of small dailies should not utilize the same 
principles. Some are doing so with surprising results. The 
smaller dailies watch the larger ones and modify the new fea- 
tures according to their own needs and resources. There is 
always some local charity, political abuse, or new public in- 
terest that can be exploited, and frequently the only cost is 
that of the space used. 

Slogans — Distinctive Characteristics 

Manufacturers long have known the value of a slogan, 
and nearly every big concern of any character has one. The 
Simmons Hardware Company, St. Louis, with " The recollec- 
tion of quality remains long after the price is forgotten," is a 
typical example. Newspapers are using slogans now. The 
Chicago Tribune sometimes gets letters addressed to " The 
World's Greatest Newspaper." The Tribune, by the way, 
comes close enough to this egotistic assertion to justify its 
use. The New York Times hammers in " All The News 
That's Fit To Print," and similar slogans could be cited in 
nearly every city. A good, strong line that identifies a paper 
and its individuality is unquestionably worth while. 

The New York Evening Post maintains a statistical de- 
partment which furnishes reports on the advertising gains and 
losses of all New York newspapers. The circulation ad- 
vantage of this service lies in the fact that all New York papers 
refer to The Evening Post as the authority for their claims, 






SPECIAL READER-INTEREST FEATURES 171 

and the statement, " Records Compiled by New York Evening 
Post," is a common sight in trade journals. There are, more- 
over, many other advantages accruing to The Post from this 
special feature. 



CHAPTER XIV 

PREMIUMS 

The Policy of Using Premiums 

Newspaper publishing is a manufacturing enterprise, gov- 
erned by the same laws that regulate the production of shoes, 
plows, or any other commodity. Hence, in considering the 
premium method of increasing subscription sales, the same 
general principles are involved that are operative in any selling 
proposition. 

Certain newspapers whose social, financial, and political 
position is above competition, speak contemptuously of pre- 
miums. Nearly every city affords at least one example of 
such a paper. Needless to say, every newspaper would like 
to occupy this enviable position ; but where several newspapers 
insist upon doing business in the same field, most of them 
must resort to something more than counter sales, or self- 
selling ideas, in order to live. 

The manager of circulation who affects a supercilious at- 
titude toward premiums is reflecting the old conception of a 
newspaper as a " literary journal " which cannot afford to be 
too commercial in its ideals and activities. Modern competi- 
tion, and the development of the premium idea to a scientific 
basis, are putting this conception into the limbo reserved for 
the unprogressive. 

Also, if the newspapers which boast that they use no pre- 
miums, contests, coupons, or like inducements, and which 
claim that they depend upon the news and editorial features to 
hold readers, are analyzed, it will be found that the difference 
between them and the papers which employ all these promo- 

172 



PREMIUMS 173 

tion plans is one of form rather than of substance. The New 
York Times is a notable example of the first type. 

The Times will not give a stew-pan to get a reader, but 
it gives beautiful pictures. As a matter of principle, what 
is the difference ? In form the distinction is apparent, but in 
substance each is a premium, or a bid for patronage by offer- 
ing something extraneous to pure news. It happens that the 
class of readers to which The Times makes its appeal prefers 
its premiums in the form of art pictures rather than as sad 
irons or table ware. 

Whatever the nature of the premiums themselves, the 
method as a business policy is not shoddy. It should be used 
or left alone, solely according to the needs of any given situa- 
tion. It is a sales plan in successful use by too many large 
enterprises for it to be classed — as some top-lofty publishers 
class it — among questionable business practices. This sys- 
tem of increasing the sales of newspapers is receiving more 
and more attention from circulation managers and publishers, 
and is destined to attain to a sounder economic basis and to 
greater efficiency . 1 

Basic Principles of the Premium System 

Before applying the principles of this system to news- 
paper-selling, it will be useful to state some of the general laws 
and facts underlying the system. 

The fundamental principle of the premium method of in- 
creasing sales is the gift of a value or a service to the customer 
in addition to the ordinary purchasing power of his money. 

This does not mean, necessarily, that one concern using 
premiums has a higher selling expense than another concern 
which eschews them. Each may have the same selling ex- 
pense, but they apportion this expense differently. One will 

1 Those who desire an elaborate analysis of premium principles will find " The 
Premium System of Forcing Sales," by Henry S. Bunting, useful. 



174 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

devote all of its selling appropriation to advertising and sales- 
men, while the other may divide its appropriation among ad- 
vertising, salesmen, and premiums. 

Where the entire appropriation for selling expense is put 
into the various conventional forms of advertising, the con- 
sumer gets no benefit from the selling expenditure, other than 
being informed where he may buy to his advantage. 

On the other hand, if the consumer is induced to buy 
through a premium offer, he gets part of the selling expense 
in the form of the premium. That is to say, a premium is one 
form of advertising which in itself benefits the consumer be- 
cause the selling expense goes partly into his pocket. 

Strictly speaking, the premium system is at its best where 
the seller actually gives the buyer part of the selling expense 
in the form of the premium, for then it is real profit-sharing. 
It is, in fact, a discount for cash. The United Cigar Stores 
policy is based on this strict interpretation of the principle, 
for the coupons given to its customers actually represent a 
rebate from the normal selling price of cigars. 

The Modified Premium System 

But there is a variation from this pure principle, to what 
is termed " the modified premium system." The distinction 
was made above when it was stated that a premium " is the 
gift of a value or a service." The New York World and The 
Portland Oregonian are good examples of both systems. 

The New York World gives away its premiums absolutely. 
No cash payment is required of the reader, though he must 
clip a coupon from the paper and present it to receive the 
gift. On different Sundays The World printed coupons good 
for fly-swatters or sanitary drinking cups, which resulted in 
the distribution of more than 250,000 of these articles. 

The Portland Oregonian, however, does not give away any 
premiums. It uses the " modified premium " plan, which re- 



PREMIUMS 175 

quires the customer to pay for the premium. For example, 
a customer who will agree to take The Oregonian for three 
months may have a European War atlas as a premium upon 
payment of 15 cents extra; or a coffee percolator for $1.25 
extra, or a 34-piece dinner set for $2.95 extra. 

The World is an example of a gift of a " value " to the 
customer, while The Oregonian is an example of a gift of a 
" service " to the customer — in both cases as premiums. The 
service that The Oregonian renders its customers is in ena- 
bling them to buy the war atlas, the percolator, or the dinner 
set at wholesale prices. It has bought these articles in im- 
mense quantities and gives the customer of the paper the 
saving of the retail profit. It is evident that each paper has 
given its customers something above the regular purchasing 
power of their money. 

The Modified Premium Plan for Periodicals 

The modified premium system is much in vogue among 
periodical publishers, notably The Literary Digest, Review of 
Reviews, and Collier's Weekly. These periodicals originate 
sets of books and sell them to readers at a price, in monthly 
instalments, which covers both the subscription and the cost 
of the books. In many instances periodicals have made a 
profit out of the premium books. This point needs elabora- 
tion. 

As a rule, the periodical or industry which tries to make 
a profit out of its premiums is on precarious economic ground. 
This vitiates the principle of the premium as a selling method. 
The modified premium method is unobjectionable because it 
enables the paper's customer to buy under the market price 
— a saving which is as tangible as a gift of the same amount 
of cash. In the case of the periodicals which make a profit 
out of the books offered as an inducement for subscribing, the 
customer gets neither a value nor a service, but an opportunity. 



176 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The opportunity is in buying a set of books which cannot be 
obtained elsewhere. 

For instance, Collier's Weekly originated Dr. Eliot's " Five 
Foot Shelf of Books," a fifty-volume set, and this is unob- 
tainable elsewhere. Now, this is an excellent set of books, 
and about four and a half million volumes have been sold. 
The inducement to subscribe to Collier's is the opportunity to 
get the books, but the customer pays for the books in his 
monthly instalments. Whether the publishers make a profit 
out of this premium, they alone can say, but it is much 
farther from the true premium idea than either The World 
or The Oregonian plan. 

By clever presentation of the merits of books, periodicals 
induce a desire for them in the minds of readers. They then 
announce that for $1 down and $1 a month for eleven months, 
the reader may have both a yearly subscription to the periodical 
and the set of books. They dilate on the fact that the book 
cannot be obtained except in such a manner, and usually 
infer that the price will go up shortly. The readers buy, and 
in most instances get full value for their money, but aside 
from the opportunity of getting the books, they have received 
no premium. 

It is interesting to note that P. F. Collier & Son since 
1875 have sold about 71,000,000 books valued at $108,000,000, 
most of which have been sold in connection with subscription 
campaigns. The number of books sold by all periodicals would 
stagger the imagination. 

The Coupon System 

All the " coupon-and-so-much-cash " schemes for books, 
etc., are based on the modified premium principle. That is, 
the paper adds to the wholesale price of the article, the cost 
of the space used to exploit it and the cost of handling. In 



PREMIUMS 177 

small cities the papers will not make a margin of profit out 
of the books to cover the cost of the space used, though they 
do make a profit. 

A small daily usually will put on a book campaign after 
Christmas, or at some dull advertising period, for then the 
space can be spared and it is cheaper to fill it with a few big 
advertisements about a book than to fill it with news. Metro- 
politan papers make the book pay for the space, or sell the 
space to the publishers who use the prestige of the paper to 
sell the book to the readers. 

The Chicago Tribune announces that it uses no coupons, 
premiums, contests, etc., but it allows book publishers, or 
souvenir-spoon manufacturers, to run advertisements offering 
the articles for so much cash and so many coupons clipped from 
The Tribune. It is likely that not one reader out of a thou- 
sand understands the paper's relation to the scheme. The 
advertisements are written as if The Tribune were making the 
offer, though the articles advertised are not obtainable at The 
Tribune office, and the name of the real distributer appears in 
an inconspicuous place. 

The books offered cannot ordinarily be bought in book- 
stores, and this exclusive distribution through the paper at 98 
cents, or 49 cents, or some other bargain-counter price, con- 
stitutes the inducement to the reader. Skilful advertising in- 
duces the desire, and the circulation benefit is first, in enabling 
the reader to get a desirable book or article at a reasonable, 
or bargain price, and second, in requiring him to cut coupons 
consecutively from the paper. Also people will show these 
articles to friends, and so advertise the paper. 

There is, moreover, a considerable educational value in 
the books sold in this manner by newspapers and periodicals. 
Standard authors are distributed, as well as books designed to 
ride a temporary public interest, and the public is benefited by 



178 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

reading them, or having them in the home available for chil- 
dren. But they are not premiums. 

It is legitimate for a newspaper to add to the cost price 
of a premium, the advertising value of the space used in the 
paper to exploit the article to the reader, just as it figures in 
the cost of a solicitor; and in this way newspapers create a 
demand for their own space. The reader of The Los Angeles 
Tribune who subscribes for a year can get a beautiful dinner 
set at a price at which no Los Angeles store could afford to 
sell it, and yet The Tribune has given the reader little more 
than the opportunity to buy at cost. The Tribune purchases 
the dinner sets in car-load lots and passes them along to its 
readers at wholesale prices. 

In New York, where transient sales are predominant, The 
New York World influences people to buy its Sunday edition 
by premium offers involving nothing except the purchase 
price of the paper and the clipping of a coupon. A. E. Mac- 
Kinnon, formerly manager of circulation for The World, in 
an address before the National Premium Advertising Associa- 
tion stated that the sales were increased 41,000 net on one 
Sunday for a coupon and an inexpensive article. In this kind 
of premium work, the paper necessarily must hold the cost 
down to a fraction of a cent, and The World has used sanitary 
drinking cups made of paper, fly-swatters, calendars, pictures, 
and maps. 

Premiums vs. Cash Discount 

A premium frequently is simply a cash discount or com- 
mission offered in the form of an article. Suppose a paper 
selling at $3 a year allows a commission of 50 cents upon sub- 
scriptions. If the agent or carrier takes the cash, in spending 
it he must do so at full retail prices. If the newspaper buys 
the article on a wholesale scale, it can make the 50 cents rep- 
resent at least 75 cents, and possibly $1. Hence, a premium 



PREMIUMS 179 

usually will represent a greater value to the buyer than the 
cash discount or commission. 

The United Profit-Sharing Coupons, if their face value 
were given to customers in cash, would not purchase within 
50 per cent of the value they have when redeemed in pre- 
miums. This is so because the United people buy standard 
articles in wholesale lots and pass them along to the customers 
holding coupons, at a large saving from retail prices. That 
is, if a customer buys Colgate's shaving soap, he must pay 
20 or 25 cents for it in a drug-store, while he could get the 
same article from a United premium house for coupons which 
represent less money, because the premium house bought the 
soap at wholesale cost and so figured it in redeeming the 
coupons. 

An example of straight premium giving is found in the 
circulation department of The Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Press. 
A carrier boy will get a clutch pencil, or a year's subscription 
to a boy's magazine, or some other article that delights the 
boy heart, for one 16-week subscription. Here is an actual 
gift to the carrier out of the paper's resources, and it is in 
effect a cash commission offered in the form of a premium. 

Or, this paper will give the carrier 25 cents for every such 
subscription turned in. But the boy cannot invest that 25 
cents in a pencil, a pair of skates, a bicycle lamp, or a foot- 
ball, as advantageously as the newspaper can when buying 
wholesale. That is why a premium attracts him more than 
the cash. He gets a bigger value. Besides, there is a 
psychological attraction about a premium. It is much more 
appealing to the imagination to offer a boy a Jersey sweater 
than the equivalent in cash. 

Psychology of Premiums 

The general psychological principle underlying the pre- 
mium is the universal desire to get something for nothing. 



i8o SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Old and young, men, women, and children, seldom cease to 
feel this attraction. In the case of a pure premium plan, this 
is not an optical illusion. The seller here actually divides part 
of the selling expense with the customer, for a percentage of 
his advertising appropriation goes into the buyer's pocket in 
the form of a premium. 

Some premium schemes exploit the gambling instinct, the 
get-rich-quick failing in humanity, the desire to reach out 
into the land of dreams and snatch a fabulous value for a 
small cost or exertion. But this practice is not legitimate. 

It is commercial suicide to play skilfully and unscrupulously 
upon the human desire to get something for nothing. A news- 
paper is under covenant, more than other enterprises, to keep 
within the bounds of fair merchandising. Public confidence 
is the newspaper's chief circulation asset, and its premium 
policy must be bona fide. 

Premiums in Other Lines of Business 

Possibly a clearer conception of the general premium 
principle will be obtained from a brief consideration of its 
application to lines of business other than publishing. 

Among department stores and manufacturing concerns, the 
general allowance for premiums is from 2 to 3 per cent of the 
sales — usually 2% per cent. For example, if a store has 
gross sales of $500,000 a year, the allowance for premiums 
will be $12,500, which is 2% per cent of the gross amount. 

However, when $12,500 is invested in premiums at whole- 
sale, it will yield merchandise worth, at retail, at least $17,500 
to the coupon or stamp holders, which is equivalent to 3% 
per cent of $500,000. But experience has shown that a great 
many coupons or stamps will not be redeemed. The average 
redemption is somewhere from 35 to 60 per cent of the total 
issue. The United Cigar coupons are redeemed to 86 per 
cent of the total issue, which is the record figure. As a rule, 



PREMIUMS , 181 

to allow for a redemption of 60 per cent is conservative. 
Hence, the premium house will allow for this by increasing 
the value of the premiums another 1 per cent, or 4% per cent 
of $500,000, bringing the retail value of the premiums to about 
$22,500. 

Another plan is for a retail store to give trading stamps, 
or savings bonds, representing 2% per cent of the customer's 
purchases; that is, one stamp or bond with each 10-cent pur- 
chase, etc. When the customer has saved stamps representing 
$100 in purchases, they are good for $2.50 in merchandise, or 
2% per cent of $100. 

The advantage is in the inducement the stamps give for 
buying $100 worth of merchandise at the issuing store. The 
stamps cannot be redeemed until that amount has been pur- 
chased. But the $2.50 purchasing power of the stamps does 
not represent an actual discount of 2% per cent, for the store 
delivers merchandise at its full retail value, so that when the 
cost of the merchandise at wholesale is considered, the real 
discount is about 1% per cent. 

To take a concrete illustration, a woman in the course of 
six months buys $100 worth of merchandise at Jones Brothers 
Department Store. Jones Brothers issue coupons with a value 
of 2% per cent of the purchases, so that the woman has ac- 
cumulated $2.50 in rebates on her purchases. She takes this 
and buys from the store — where the coupons must be re- 
deemed — an umbrella worth at retail $2.50. But as the um- 
brella cost the store at wholesale over one-third less, or $1.50, 
the actual cost of the premium system is 1% per cent of $100. 

If a store or manufacturer does not maintain its own pre- 
mium department, the coupons or stamps are redeemable at 
a premium clearing house, where the range of selection is 
wide. As a rule it is best to afford the coupon collector the 
opportunity to redeem in other commodities than the ones on 
which the coupons were issued. Thus The United Profit- 



182 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Sharing Coupons are redeemed now by a corporation entirely 
distinct from the United Cigar Stores, which also redeems 
wrappers for Spearmint gum and serves as a redemption 
bureau for many other manufacturers and distributers. 

Premiums in the Competitive Field 

Premiums undoubtedly create demand, but their chief use 
in a competitive field is in influencing selection. Where there 
are several papers in one field, the work is not so much to 
induce non-reading people to take your paper, as to influence 
readers of other papers to switch to your paper. 

This necessity is particularly noticeable in the crowded soap 
industry, the tobacco industry, and the coffee industry, to 
mention only a trio of leaders. A housewife has several 
practically uniform baking powders, coffees, soaps, and other 
commodities from which to select. Alert sales managers saw 
that she could be influenced to select their brands by the use 
of an inducement, or premium, which amounts to a price dis- 
count or profit-sharing. And so they give her spoons, table- 
ware, lace curtains, and a thousand and one articles, if she 
will save the wrappers, labels, or coupons. 

The Premium Plan in Practice 

Alert circulation managers have perceived the utility of 
the premium plan in selling subscriptions. Several thousand 
pocket knives that would retail at $i are bought for 33 cents 
each. They then truthfully offer the prospect a $1 knife as 
a premium for buying a $3 mail subscription. The prospect 
actually is getting a $1 value, for that is what he would have 
to pay for the knife at retail. 

At the same time, the paper is giving only 33 cents of its 
own resources, and that is the cost of getting the subscription, 
plus the solicitor's salary or commission. Frequently, a pre- 
mium costing much less than 33 cents is effective. Novelties 



PREMIUMS 183 

as low in cost as 15 cents wholesale have proved sufficient in- 
ducement. When a paper gives premiums, it decreases the 
commission to the agent or solicitor. The Indianapolis News 
will allow a cash commission of 50 cents on its state edition 
at $3, but if the solicitor uses a premium furnished by the 
paper, say a 3-piece knife set, only 25 cents commission is 
allowed. 

This gives an inducement to the agent or solicitor to try 
to get a subscription first without a premium, because his com- 
mission will be double what it is with a premium. The paper, 
therefore, applies part of its regular cash commission toward 
the cost of the premium, and the remainder of the cost comes 
out of its own resources. One live paper that has come to 
the author's attention pays a solicitor a salary of $25 a week 
the year round and furnishes him a premium which costs 25 
cents. Its total selling expense will be under 25 per cent in 
the country, and even less in the city. 

Advisability of the Premium Plan 

It is argued against the premium plan that once it is 
started it must be continued forever. This is true, but it is 
true also of every form of advertising. The important thing 
to understand is that the true premium should come out of 
a paper's regular selling expense. Avoid the popular idea 
that it is actually a gift clear and above this regular selling 
expense. If a publisher decides that 35 per cent of the sub- 
scription price is the limit of selling expense he will approve, 
the circulation manager must then apportion this amount be- 
tween the cost of the solicitor and the cost of a premium. 

The experience of some papers which use premiums intel- 
ligently is that not over 38 per cent of the subscribers secured 
by premiums have to be offered new premiums in order to 
retain them — provided the paper is a good news product. 
In a highly competitive field where a subscriber has to be 



1 84 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

weaned from one paper by the use of a premium, and the 
other paper is after his business on the same principle, the 
cost of the plan and the renewals will be a higher percentage 
than stated above. 

A premium is a form of advertising. It will do what 
straight advertising often does not do, namely, cause one 
customer to advertise your product to a non-customer. A 
clock or a dinner set in the home is certain to be commented 
upon to all visitors, with mention of the paper that gave it, 
or offered it at a bargain price, with a subscription. The same 
amount of money in bill-board advertising will not have this 
cumulative pulling power. 

A further illustration of the cumulative effect of a pre- 
mium is seen in the fact that the buyer can get more premiums 
by buying more merchandise. With newspapers, one purchase 
will result in a year's supply, or six months', or three months', 
so that customers are not interested in buying more of the same 
paper as they would be interested in buying more soap. Cou- 
pons frequently cause transient readers to continue to buy the 
paper longer than usual, simply to complete the number neces- 
sary to get the book or other article offered. 

Selection of Premiums 

On the point of quality, much sermonizing could be in- 
dulged. Many newspapers have suffered from using poor 
judgment in selecting premiums and have quit the plan in dis- 
gust. There are two general principles to bear in mind. 

The first and foremost one is to choose a premium which 
will give satisfaction. If it does not, the reader will recollect 
the paper which gave it to him, with uncomplimentary thoughts 
and will usually advertise his dissatisfaction to his friends. 
The second principle is to choose a premium of a value that will 
not require too long a time, or too many coupons, to redeem, 
and so exhaust the buyer's patience. Periodical publishers 



PREMIUMS 185 

have put out book offers which required sixteen or more 
monthly payments, and there never was a person who did not 
get heartily sick of them before the payments were completed. 

The Los Angeles Tribune, as already stated, gave a dinner 
set for yearly subscriptions. It was a 45-piece set, bought in 
car-load lots and a genuine bargain at the terms offered, namely, 
$1 down and 15 cents a month for twelve months, or $1.80, 
making the total cost to the subscriber $2.80 above the regular 
subscription price of 45 cents a month. This premium was 
delivered upon the signing of an order, and the small monthly 
payment was hardly felt by the subscriber. 

The souvenir state seal spoons used by many papers are 
effective because of their cumulative nature, though it takes 
a whole year to complete the set, giving one out each week. 
Here the moving influence is the collecting mania which is in 
everybody in some degree. 

A list of articles that have been used by newspapers as 
premiums would occupy a book. Ponies, jewelry, sad irons 
(a Philadelphia paper sold a whole train load), building lots, 
cabinet photographs, cook books, cutlery, baseball outfits, 
phonographs, safety razors, and so on through almost every 
article that interests men or women, might be mentioned. 

Gratifying results have been obtained with almost as wide 
a list by the coupon-and-cash scheme. The desire for a library 
in every home makes a book a good inducement, and The 
Brooklyn Eagle has followed a definite policy with this idea 
in mind. Where the collecting of the premium can be made 
a fad, the paper is fortunate. 

Novelties make excellent premiums. They stir the imagina- 
tion, and even if they have a comparatively short life, they 
produce enough satisfaction to prevent a flare-back. Novelties 
are especially good premiums for men. Women, particularly 
housewives, find staples more attractive when they help to 
equip some part of the home. 



1 86 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Clubbing offers with other periodicals are effective pre- 
miums with some readers, notably farmers, who are glad to 
get a farm journal along with the daily newspaper. But in 
the main, the premium should be radically different from the 
article with which it is given. The housekeeper wants spoons 
as premiums with her coffee — not more coffee. People who 
buy newspapers do not want more reading matter as a pre- 
mium so much as they do a brass ash tray or an enlarged 
portrait. 

In this connection, circulation managers must use discre- 
tion in selecting premiums so that advertisers will not be 
offended. As has been stated, when books are used as pre- 
miums they are ordinarily those which are not for sale in book- 
stores, but newspapers occasionally find it necessary to com- 
pete with their advertisers on some of the premiums used. 
Sometimes a paper has not been able to get a certain line of 
dealers to advertise, and then the commodity these dealers han- 
dle can be used effectively. Many papers use premiums in the 
country and not in the city, for the country trade is not so 
directly in competition with advertisers as the city distribution. 

In selecting a premium, it must always be borne in mind 
that it must not represent a gift of more than 50 per cent of 
the subscription price, as the post-office department will not 
recognize as legitimate the subscribers obtained at a greater 
selling expense. This feature of the premium system is 
treated more fully in Chapter XVIII, " Postal Regulations." 

The Premium as a Means of Approach 

As a means of getting into a home, a premium is unex- 
celled. When the door opens upon a man with a newspaper 
in his hand, or nothing at all, the suspicious housekeeper, or 
office man, instinctively bristles in antagonism. But if he holds 
a beautiful clock, fountain pen, picture, or aluminum stew- 
pan, curiosity will generally get the better of antagonism. 



PREMIUMS 187 

Before he says anything, the something- for-nothing, or 
bargain instinct, has done its work. " You will be interested 
in this aluminum ware The Evening Howl is giving away 
absolutely free," and the solicitor is in the hall or at the desk 
talking both the paper and the premium in spite of an under- 
current of opposition. 

The secret of success lies in " getting the drop " on the 
prospect ; in taking him by surprise and getting your selling 
talk started before he can shut it off ; in attracting his attention 
through some side issue, or in that general atmosphere of 
" individuality " which causes people to be interested in spite 
of themselves. High-class solicitors never employ strong-arm 
methods of approach. 

It is hopeless to expect solicitors to keep the paper most 
prominent in their sales talk when they have a good premium 
in hand, but they can be trained to the idea of never leaving 
a customer until he has been shown the good points of the 
paper and convinced that he has gotten his full money's worth 
in the paper itself. This will make a renewal without a pre- 
mium easier to get. 

Premiums for Mail Subscriptions 

Subscriptions can be obtained by mail with a carefully 
planned follow-up system, holding the premium in reserve to 
bring orders from those who do not respond to plain solicita- 
tion by letter. 

" If premiums are used in the city," says L. L. Ricketts 
of The Des Moines Capital, " the transaction should be com- 
pleted at once by the delivery of the premium, so that the sub- 
scribers will not be inquiring of the carrier boys when to ex- 
pect it." In country solicitation, subscribers are sometimes 
given coupons good for the premium when presented at the 
publication office, or the premiums are used on a delivered 
basis. 



CHAPTER XV 
CONTESTS 

Psychology of the Contest 

As with premiums, opinions on the advisability of contests 
for circulation differ widely among circulation managers and 
publishers. But contests have become a standard promotion 
method and are unquestionably here to stay. 

The mistakes in conducting contests are more responsible 
for the opposition to them than the principle involved. No 
trait of human nature is more universally in evidence than the 
love of a game, a conflict, a contest. It is an old truism that 
competition (contest) is the life of trade. 

Sports would cease if it were not for the contest element. 
A crowd at a baseball game, a cock fight, or golf match is in- 
terested in the effort to win which the players are making. 
The prize here is victory, but it is quite as tangible in its in- 
ducing power as an automobile. The whole theory of the 
contest is just this quality of inducing power — inducing 
people to supreme exertion. 

If the imagination, or the desire, of a person can be 
aroused, or stimulated, he will go the limit to achieve. The 
same is true of a team of athletes, of a corps of carriers or 
salesmen, and may be extended in its application on up to the 
whole community. When it has been extended to the crowd, 
or community, it becomes the circulation contest. 

To induce people to act in unison in accomplishing your 
purpose is the great genius of leadership in any direction. 
Napoleon possessed this quality as a soldier, Roosevelt as a 

188 



CONTESTS 189 

politician, John D. Rockefeller as a business man. In the last 
instance, the inducing power was in enlisting for the benefit 
of one oil company, the oil-buying capacities of a nation. 

The Contest Idea in Salesmanship 

Sales managers under the necessity of meeting keen com- 
petition, quickly perceived the value of the contest idea as 
applied to selling. At first it was used among salesmen, and 
the results were startling. A contest for the largest annual 
sales, with a gold watch as a prize, caused the members of the 
force to exert themselves far beyond any standard theretofore 
considered normal. 

Circulation managers searching for new schemes soon saw 
the value of the same idea among carriers, solicitors, and 
agents. They made a game, or contest, of work, and hung 
up prizes which induced an amount of energy and exertion 
which they had not supposed was in the boys and men. A 
contest puts some imagination into prosaic work by making it 
a game. The laurel wreath has never lost its potency as an 
inducer of exertion. 

Sidney D. Long, a veteran circulation manager, of The 
Wichita Eagle, has expressed the opinion that for stirring up 
a whole community, and invigorating a paper's circulation, 
nothing has been devised that equals a subscription contest. 
The same testimony is heard from every quarter. 

This does not mean that the contest as a sales method has 
no drawbacks. Advocates of the method make the mistake 
of claiming perfection, while its opponents make the mistake 
of denying any merit. There is room for considerable honest 
difference of opinion on the question of whether a method 
which increases circulation from 40 to 60 per cent and even 
higher, in a few months, is a healthy promotion method. The 
position to be taken here is, as stated, that the whole value 
hinges on the manner of application of the method. 



190 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Bad aftermaths undoubtedly have followed many circula- 
tion contests. Sore spots were made which the papers did 
not live down. Other harmful consequences have followed, 
some due to poor judgment, and others to outright crooked- 
ness. The latter consequences have given the worst reputa- 
tion to contests, but certainly they do not constitute a valid 
objection to the principle. That contests should be absolutely 
honest is undebatable. 

A contest carefully conceived, conscientiously conducted, 
and competently concluded has advantages which far outweigh 
the disadvantages. When a whole community has been 
thoroughly aroused and the home stretch has been exciting, 
with the best man or woman the winner, and the whole event 
crowned with a grand awarding of the prizes in the opera 
house, a newspaper is better off in every way. 

If the paper is a good newspaper, 80 per cent of the new 
business should be retained. A mediocre paper, however, re- 
gardless of how circulation is obtained, will find a disappoint- 
ing slump in subscriptions after every great effort. The 
trouble is not in the promotion methods, which frequently 
pile up circulation for inferior papers, but in the paper itself. 
A circulation manager clever enough to build circulation, and 
not clever enough to show the publisher how to hold it, will 
serve many masters. 

Nothing equals a contest for producing large results in 
a short time. Premiums are effective but they are slower in 
results because the paper is working on an individual basis, 
whereas in a contest a whole community is reached at one 
speaking. When a person has invested in a subscription, he 
takes a permanent interest in the contest to see whether he 
" put his money on the winner." Thus every sale cumulates 
interest. 

Even in a city like New York where the papers know little 
or nothing of the people who buy them — because the transient 



CONTESTS I9 1 

street sales so largely predominate — contests have been suc- 
cessful. The New York Evening Mail added 20,000 circula- 
tion with a booklovers' contest. This sort of contest is educa- 
tional, as are many others run by newspapers. 

Among periodicals, Life is particularly successful in utiliz- 
ing the contest principle. In 191 5 a contest over a title to a 
picture produced 121,000 replies. 

Timeliness in Contests 

Contests as a selling method are not applicable the year 
round. They should not be started in the summer when 
people are feeling the lassitude of heat. Besides, if the prizes 
are European or other trips, the contest should end at the 
beginning of summer so that school teachers and others who 
figure most frequently in contests, may have opportunity to 
utilize the prizes. 

A contest for a European trip can be started in the early 
autumn, with the trip to be taken the following summer; but 
postponing the actual awarding of prizes is unwise. A contest 
started in the late winter, to end about June, will bring the 
conclusion at a favorable time. To open or close a contest 
at a holiday season, such as Christmas or Easter, is undesir- 
able. 

If the contest includes rural population, due attention must 
be given to make it fit in with the farmers' leisure. Coming 
at planting or harvest times, a contest will have to work against 
adverse conditions. Before any contest is started, an examina- 
tion of the general industrial situation should be made, to de- 
termine whether or not the people are financially able to yield 
the desired volume of money in subscriptions. 

Contest Details 

Frequently a contest embraces both city and country. In 
this case the territory is divided into districts, with a separate 



192 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

list of prizes for each district. To keep interest from lagging, 
and to stimulate contestants to greater exertions, special prizes 
are given at different stages of the contest, and these really 
constitute a contest within a contest. 

Experience has shown that contests which interest women 
are the most successful. In the first place, women can wheedle 
men into doing nearly anything. They can smile sweetly and 
a man will dig up a subscription just as if he really enjoyed 
doing so. And inasmuch as he is getting value for his money, 
he is not necessarily being sold something he will not want. 

A contest causes the members of a community to advance 
$10,000 or $60,000 to a newspaper for a product that is to be 
delivered in the future, from six months to two years or more. 
They pay in advance merely to give some young women an 
immediate prize or trip. The newspaper practically says to 
a community: " If you will pay up in advance for so much 
business, we will send to Europe anybody you select." 

The wise circulation manager will be on the alert to prevent 
cut prices in such contests. If cutting is done, the renewal 
business will be most difficult and expensive. A customer 
never likes to pay more for a renewal than for the original 
subscription. It is better, if the price is to be cut, to put the 
discount into the form of a premium. 

By making the payments of subscriptions in arrears good 
for votes or points in the contest, a newspaper can collect many 
accounts which no other method had succeeded in collecting. 
Where contestants are raking the field with a fine tooth comb 
they are certain to make a lot of bad accounts yield face value. 

Some publishers who had held successful contests and 
found their bank balances suddenly swollen, disposed of the 
surplus unwisely, and became pinched before circulation 
revenue began coming in again. Many publishers who have 
obligations to meet and slight credit at the bank, have em- 
ployed contests to raise funds to tide them over crises. As 



CONTESTS 193 

paid-in-advance circulation is considered by advertisers and 
publishers the best kind of circulation, the effect of a contest 
in this respect is highly desirable. 

A subscriber new to the paper, who has been sold for six 
months or longer, has ample time to become acquainted with 
it. Even if he had a prejudice against it before, it is likely 
to possess features to his liking and a renewal will not be so 
difficult to obtain. Contests will put the paper in homes into 
which all previous efforts have failed to succeed in effecting an 
entrance. 

During the life of a contest, the community is talking about 
the paper and the standing of the contestants, with speculations 
on the winner. This is why it is extremely bad for a contest 
to leave the slightest grounds for doubting fair play. When 
you set everybody talking about your product, it behooves you 
to have that talk complimentary. The advertising a newspaper 
receives from a contest is a valuable consideration aside from 
the sales. 

The popularity contest in all its forms seems to be the most 
effective. But this is merely a convenient name to give the 
contest, as the prizes invariably are the attraction, and " prize 
contest " would be more accurate as a title. Young women 
who are competing in a popularity contest for an automobile 
or a trip to Europe give very little thought to the distinction 
of being the most popular person, but a great deal of thought 
to the prizes. 

Next to women, contests for children or babies are most 
effective. Men hitherto have shown a reluctance to enter 
contests where they must solicit for themselves, though men 
will get behind a woman's candidacy in most efficient and en- 
thusiastic fashion. 

It is probably impossible to prevent contestants, toward 
the finish, from investing their own money in subscriptions, 
but it should be discouraged and held down to the minimum, 



194 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

for when such contestants lose, a festering spot is created. 
Where the prize list is particularly large and attractive, this 
trouble is especially noticeable, but cautious management will 
restrain it. 

Cost of Contests 

The expert contest manager is the one who can get maxi- 
mum returns from the lowest expenditure for prizes. A paper 
which announces prizes worth, for example, $7,500 or $18,000, 
in automobiles, rings, pianos, or trips, will invest nothing like 
such amounts, because the commodities are bought at whole- 
sale prices, or in exchange for advertising space. This brings 
down the cost of the prizes to the newspaper as much as 50 
per cent of the regular retail selling price. Still, regardless of 
private cost, the value of the prizes as advertised by the paper 
to contestants is true, since the latter could not buy them for 
less in the open market. 

Prizes run in cost from 8 to 20 per cent of the cash receipts 
of the contest. The terms which can be made with contest 
companies vary, though ordinarily they exact 25 per cent of 
all new subscriptions and from 10 to 15 per cent of renewals 
and collections. Extra workers and expenses incident to the 
contest, and the recent practice of giving unsuccessful con- 
testants 10 per cent of the money they turn in, increase the 
cost of the contest as a circulation builder to 50 per cent of 
the receipts, where conservatively managed. If bungled, the 
publisher simply swaps dollars. Some companies will conduct 
contests without guarantees and for a percentage of the 
receipts. 

The importance of contracting with a thoroughly experi- 
enced, financially responsible, and high-standing contest com- 
pany cannot be emphasized too strongly. A cheap company 
will have cheap contest managers who will resort to shady 
methods, especially if their profits depend exclusively upon 



CONTESTS 195 

the results produced. They are the kind that discredit the 
contest as a selling method. 

Numerous circulation managers have so mastered the prin- 
ciples of the contest that they themselves put them on for their 
papers, with large success and at a comparatively low cost. 
However, the circulation manager who has not been through 
a contest and who is not well up on the principles, is likely 
to pay expensively for the mistakes he is certain to make in 
managing the contest himself. As a rule, circulation managers 
have all they can do, and to add the management of a contest 
will result in neglect at some if not all other points. 

The modern tendency is to arrange contests that allow some 
compensation to every contestant. In the case of some papers 
every contestant who does not win a prize is given a commis- 
sion of 10 per cent on all the money he himself turns in. This 
increases the cost of a contest, but is made up in increased 
satisfaction among losing contestants, and goes well with 
Uncle Sam's post-office department, which is scrutinizing con- 
tests most critically nowadays. 

Contests and Advertising Rates 

A paper is fortunate if, along with the increased subscrip- 
tion list obtained by a contest, it can effect a raise in adver- 
tising rates. Where the advertising rates have been unreason- 
ably low, a contest will often be advisable as a preliminary to 
a raise. To ask advertisers for more on the old circulation 
is next to impossible, but to back up a raise with a circulation 
increase of from 15 to 40 per cent makes this always difficult 
undertaking measurably easier. The new circulation is at- 
tractive because it is for long terms. 

Forced Circulation 

A contest undoubtedly causes people to make an immediate 
investment in the particular newspaper, larger than in the case 



196 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

of voluntary subscription. To this extent circulation obtained 
by a contest is " forced " circulation. It is not, however, 
necessarily less desirable than the subscriptions which walk 
into the office uninvited. If people only bought what they 
actually wanted, American business would shrink in an amaz- 
ing degree. 

Successful merchandising creates demand, induces desire, 
and clinches resolve in people who had not given a thought 
to the article presented. Provided they get a real value for 
the money they part with under such manipulation, no harm is 
done. A person who buys a paper solely to help a contestant 
is not so good a subscriber as one who buys the paper for itself, 
but he will have time to grow to like the paper in most in- 
stances, and will read it for the express purpose of getting 
something for his money. 

Frequency of Contests 

Like everything else, contests as business stimulators are 
potent in proportion to the frequency with which they are em- 
ployed. Oftener than once in two years for the same paper, 
or field, seems inadvisable. It usually takes that much time 
for many of the subscriptions to expire, and besides, such a 
stir as a contest creates in a community is too drastic, emotion- 
ally and financially, to be effective if constantly utilized. Once 
every three years, or even five years, has been the conservative 
rule in most cities. 

But the contest is broadening so rapidly in its utility as a 
selling plan that some of its effectiveness may be lost through 
sheer familiarity. Retail merchants are using the principle 
extensively, manufacturers are doing likewise, and the news- 
paper is indeed rare which is not placing before its readers 
some sort of contest. The advertising department works up a 
contest for one, or a combination of advertisers, the paper sells 
the space to exploit it at regular rates, and the reading crowd 



CONTESTS 197 

is saving trade-marks or votes or reading the advertisements 
to win prizes for picking the best one. Thus The Chicago 
Tribune gave $750 a week in cash prizes for two weeks to 
stimulate its women readers to study the advertisements. The 
contest was for picking the best and giving the reasons for 
the selection. 

Special Place of the Contest 

Whenever a slump in advertising or in circulation begins, 
the newspaper seeks a tonic. The contest principle in one of 
its myriad manifestations, is incomparable thus far; but cir- 
culation management is a progressive science, and tomorrow 
doubtless will see something new, in form if not in substance. 

All plans of selling, whether through straight advertising, 
through premiums, through contests, or any other method, 
which seek business aggressively, must be continued once they 
are started. But this is the cost of modern merchandising, 
and the problem is to use these methods intelligently, economi- 
cally, and honestly. 

The truth is, selling as a science is fundamentally much 
like farming. The modern farmer knows that soil will wear 
out and that it must be fed, or stimulated, to keep up or to 
increase its productiveness. Hence, he uses fertilizers. Now, 
fertilizers in their relation to soil are like contests, premiums, 
and other selling methods in their relation to the public. The 
latter stimulate jaded buying capacities just as the fertilizers 
stimulate worn-out soils. 

A farmer may use a ton of bone meal at $25 on each acre 
of his corn field, and increase the yield from 40 to 60 bushels. 
He had to spend money to make money, but the expenditure is 
less, proportionably, than the revenue, and the operation was 
industrially sound. A circulation or advertising manager 
works upon the same principle. A farmer may use poor ferti- 
lizer and too much of it, and so lose money, and a circulation 



198 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

manager may use poor premiums or too frequent contests and 
damage his paper as well as upset normal competitive condi- 
tions. However, the abuse of a method must be distinguished 
from the method itself, and when this is done, much opposition 
to modern selling methods will vanish. 

The publisher who dreams of an ideal state where the 
people who want his product, voluntarily come and buy it, and 
weigh carefully the merits of competitive products before buy- 
ing, who introduces resolutions in conventions against premi- 
ums, contests, and similar selling policies, is right just to the 
extent that fraud enters into the practical application of these 
policies, but he is hopelessly left at the post in the race for 
business when they are applied according to the Golden Rule. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE SUNDAY PAPER, SPECIAL EDITIONS, AND 
SUPPLEMENTS 

i. The Sunday Paper 

Why does a newspaper running from 10 to 22 pages on 
week-days expand to 60 pages or more, and increase its circu- 
lation as much as 75 per cent, on Sunday? 

The answer is, people have leisure to read advertising on 
Sunday. 

In other words, merchants, manufacturers, and distributers 
saw the merchandising possibilities of the Sabbath leisure, and 
capitalized this leisure in the Sunday newspaper. 

Laymen may assume that the Sunday newspaper has more 
space for advertising because it carries so much more news 
and feature reading. As a matter of fact, the extra news and 
special features really are carried because the paper has so 
much more advertising patronage and the displays must be 
sandwiched with reading matter. 

Reduce the extra volume of advertising on Sunday, and 
the comic section, the magazine section, and the beautiful pic- 
ture supplements would disappear. Publishers, it is true, try 
to make their newspapers possess special news and feature 
attractions on Sunday, but they do this mainly to collect a 
larger audience for the advertisers. The Sunday newspaper 
now is a weekly periodical appearing on Sunday with a news 
section as the excuse for publication on the Sabbath. 

The Sunday Newspaper and the Magazine 

More and more the Sunday newspaper is taking on the 
form of a periodical and losing the form of a newspaper. It 

199 



200 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

has fiction, it has scientific articles, it has a general literary 
miscellany, it has pictorial sections — in short, it covers as 
wide a range as The Saturday Evening Post and many subjects 
which that periodical cannot, handle. Furthermore, there runs 
all through it a timeliness and an up-to-the-minute quality 
which the regular periodical does not attain. 

Circulation managers encounter practically the same selling 
problems in marketing the Sunday paper that the circulation 
managers of weekly periodicals, like Collier's, face. In fact, 
a modern Sunday newspaper is a direct competitor of the 
weekly periodicals. The New York Tribune, recognizing the 
magazine nature of the Sunday paper, employed a former edi- 
tor of Good Housekeeping to edit its Sunday issue. The New 
York Times engaged a former editor of The Century Maga- 
zine to edit its European War supplements. The positions of 
Sunday newspaper editor and magazine editor are therefore 
interchangeable. 

Circulation Limitations of the Sunday Edition 

Because the Sunday edition has developed into more than 
a local news sheet, it has a cosmopolitan appeal and a distri- 
bution that is bounded only by the necessity of having it on 
sale Sunday. It differs from periodicals in that its life is 
limited substantially to one day. The Monday papers crowd 
it out of the way. 

The chief requirement of Sunday circulation is to have 
the paper on sale Sunday morning, for in the afternoon people 
are out-of-doors or engaged in social diversions. In New 
York this is especially noticeable. All day Sunday, people are 
browsing among the Sunday papers, but most of the reading 
is accomplished in the morning hours. Sunday morning must 
then see the Sunday edition on sale, and this is the considera- 
tion that limits Sunday circulation. 

Chicago Sunday papers, to cite one city, are on sale 500 



THE SUNDAY PAPER 201 

miles and farther from the publishing center. To cover this 
distance so that the paper will be on sale on Sunday morning, 
or some time during Sunday, it is necessary to print some edi- 
tions Saturday morning or afternoon. Thus the news section 
has little that was not in the last evening newspaper editions, 
and purchasers of Sunday papers in distant points are influ- 
enced solely by the magazine phase. 

Within the city of publication the buyers receive Sunday 
papers with news as late as 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. The 
state, or foreign city distribution, receives the early editions 
mentioned. Louisville, Ky., is 300 miles from Chicago, yet 
Chicago Sunday papers are on sale Saturday night in Louisville. 

Advertising in the Sunday Edition 

The Sunday advertising keeps many American morning 
papers from failure. It might be said that it keeps all morn- 
ing papers from failure, but the idea is suggested here merely 
to indicate how very slim the week-day patronage really is. 
This emphasizes the assertion on a preceding page, that adver- 
tisers spread themselves on Sunday when the readers have 
leisure to listen to a longer sales talk. Evening newspapers 
customarily carry a large volume of advertising because they 
also reach the reader at a time when he has his greatest leisure. 

The value to local advertisers of distribution outside the 
retail trading radius was discussed in Chapter X. It is going 
to be increasingly difficult to sell such circulation to local ad- 
vertisers at the same rate as home circulation, though the 
foreign advertisers may continue to support such distribution. 

At present, publishers are taking the periodical, rather than 
the newspaper, conception of the Sunday edition, and are seek- 
ing circulation anywhere. Foreign advertisers, therefore, in 
using city Sunday papers are influenced by the same considera- 
tions that would cause them to use any weekly periodical of 
widespread circulation. If they use the local papers in the 



202 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

smaller towns covered by the big Sunday editions, they are 
buying duplicate circulation. 

Also the modern tendency of newspapers to use bill-boards, 
car cards, electric signs, advertising in other papers and in 
magazines — in fact, every medium of publicity — has edu- 
cated people to examine all papers, and not only to leave one 
paper for another, but to buy more than one. It is a common 
sight to see three or four Sunday newspapers in one city home. 
The advertisers will have to determine for themselves the value 
of this duplication. 

Selling the Sunday Edition 

While the price most generally is 5 cents, in many towns 
the Sunday papers now sell at 6, 7, or 8 cents. The local 
agents must pay 3 cents a copy as a minimum, and 3% and 
even 4 cents in some instances. If the agent pays 3 cents, he 
sells the paper to the boys at 4 cents, and they in turn sell it 
to the public at 5 cents, showing a penny profit to both agent 
and carrier. 

Paducah, Ky., as shown by the diagram on page 123, is so 
located as to afford a typical illustration of selling methods. 
Here one agent represents 15 newspapers published in St. 
Louis, Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, Nashville, and Mem- 
phis. With a population of 25,000, at least one-fourth of 
which are negroes, the sales of these 15 Sunday papers still 
reach the astonishing total of 3,000 copies. The St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch is far in the lead with nearly 2,000 a Sunday. 

This agent has from 25 to 30 boys selling on Sunday morn- 
ing, and every block in the city is covered before noon, afford- 
ing every person the opportunity to buy. If the weather is 
bad, the sales are much larger than upon a pleasant day, be- 
cause bad weather keeps people indoors. These 3,000 Sunday 
papers come by express and mail, some properly assembled and 



THE SUNDAY PAPER 203 

others in sections. Magazine and comic sections sometimes 
arrive on Friday or Saturday. 

A few of the papers allow full returns, others 5 per cent, 
and one or two, like The Chicago Tribune, no returns. If the 
agent must pay 3 cents for the papers, he sells them to the 
boys at 4 cents, allowing them 1 cent profit. Some boys sell 
200 papers in about two hours, making $2. This pays them 
better than anything else they could do. Besides the boys, the 
agent has substations in drug stores and on prominent corners. 

The agent is under a bond to each of the papers he repre- 
sents, and makes monthly settlements. The week-day circu- 
lation of the papers falls to about one-eighth of the Sunday 
sales, which emphasizes the assertion that people buy Sunday 
papers for their magazine features. The Chicago Tribune 
sends its agents 50-word telegrams on Saturday morning, 
boosting some new feature and asking for larger orders. All 
of the papers regularly canvass the city for the agent. The 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch gives delivery carts for use by the 
boys if the agent's orders show a definite increase each week 
for certain periods. The carts have the paper's name on all 
sides and are substantial in appearance. 

While Paducah is an unusually good Sunday sales point, 
the same proportionate distribution is going on in every city 
or town which can be reached by these 15 papers, and, of 
course, by any other metropolitan papers. Foreign circulation 
like this is what enables the papers to flaunt big figures in the 
eyes of advertisers. 

If the sales average 3,000 copies a Sunday in Paducah, it 
means that its people invest $150 a week in newspapers aside 
from the two local papers, one of which also has a Sunday 
edition. This is at the rate of $600 a month of four Sundays, 
and $750 a month of five Sundays. Three-fifths of this 
amount, or 3 cents a copy, goes out of town to the papers, 



204 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT, 

making the monthly check of the agent to all 15 papers from 
$360 to $450. 

Where, as in the case of The Chicago Tribune, a no-returns 
policy is enforced, the agent must be cautious in ordering, for 
he pays 3% cents a copy and one unsold copy will kill the 
profits on three papers sold. The agent has a record of each 
boy's weekly sales, and so has a fairly accurate estimating 
basis for ordering. If he could foresee the weather, his profits 
would be larger because bad weather means increased sales. 
The routine work of collections, handling the boys, attention 
to complaints, stops, etc., is like similar work in any city. 

Just why The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been able to get 
such a " bulge " on the other papers selling in Paducah is 
explained in a number of ways. In the first place, the boys 
make a full cent in selling The Post-Dispatch and only x / 2 cen t 
in selling The Chicago Tribune, and naturally push the paper 
with the larger profit. Besides, the editorial policy of The 
Post-Dispatch (owned by the Pulitzers of The New York 
World) seems to suit the average mentality of the city. The 
fact that so many copies of The Post-Dispatch are sold where 
there is a local Sunday paper, emphasizes the duplication of 
circulation which foreign advertisers, using both papers, buy. 

Selling the Sunday paper involves all the methods hereto- 
fore described for dailies, with special emphasis upon adver- 
tising. The World, The American, and other New York 
papers use bill-boards, elevated, subway, and street-car cards, 
and space in rival papers to swing patronage to their Sunday 
editions. The New York Times keeps within its own columns 
as a rule. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is a newspaper which has an 
energetic circulation department, and spends much money in 
seeking circulation in all towns and cities that can be reached 
by Sunday forenoon. When, early in 1915, The Post-Dispatch 
made arrangements to use a pictorial supplement printed by 



THE SUNDAY PAPER 205 

the Roto-gravure process, featured so successfully by The New 
York Times, the public in surrounding towns was informed 
of the fact through display advertisements in the local papers. 
Similarly, when this and other Sunday papers competing in 
these smaller towns get a notable piece of fiction by a celebrated 
author, a new moving picture serial, or any feature of unusual 
interest, they use the local papers to increase the sales. 

The action of The New York Press in reducing its Sunday 
edition to a minimum of 24 pages, and the price from 5 cents 
to 1 cent, is an experiment which has not been tried in the 
New York field in twenty years. The great bulk of the mod- 
ern Sunday paper and the cost of producing it will cause many 
publishers to work out ways of holding down the size without 
sacrificing the reader's interest in the amount of reading matter 
carried. The experiment cited is more radical than the av- 
erage publisher will try for the immediate present. 

Sunday Circulations 

The Chicago Tribune, with about 550,000 Sunday circula- 
tion at the beginning of 191 5, had the second largest Sunday 
circulation in America. The New York Sunday American 
was first with more than 800,000. The American falls heir on 
Sunday to The New York Evening Journal's extensive week- 
day circulation, since both are Hearst newspapers. 

Sometimes a paper which is not of the strongest during the 
week, will show a remarkable spurt on Sunday. This is illus- 
trated by The Philadelphia Press, which has a conspicuously 
larger Sunday circulation than it has during the week, and 
eclipses papers which beat it regularly every week-day morn- 
ing. On the other hand, the Sunday edition will sometimes 
show a remarkable falling off, as in the case of The Boston 
Post, which, with the largest week-day morning circulation in 
America, 460,000, falls to 325,000 on Sunday (January, 191 5, 
figures used) — a decrease of 135,000 copies. 



206 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Of the first type is The Chicago Tribune, which has 
320,000 week-day circulation, and an increase on Sunday of 
230,000 copies. Taking city by city, variations like the fore- 
going will be found all over the country, but the natural circu- 
lation position a paper should have is that of The Tribune 
rather than that of The Boston Post — that is, the Sunday cir- 
culation normally should exceed the week-day circulation. 
Where it does not, some other paper simply has a brighter 
Sunday editor, or this other paper's Sunday personality meets 
the average taste more closely. 

2. Special Editions 

The special edition is largely an expansion or outgrowth 
of the special feature, and the same principles apply. The 
advertising department takes the chief interest in special edi- 
tions because they afford the opportunity to sell more space, 
but they have also a positive circulation value in that they 
center public interest upon a paper. 

The annual automobile number will get the attention of 
those particularly interested, and so bring the paper before one 
class of non-readers. The alert circulation manager directs 
his selling activities into this channel while the opportunity 
lasts. Then come along the summer resort number, the school 
number, the autumn real estate number, spring fashion num- 
ber, various anniversary numbers, and so on. 

The preparation of special editions, aside from advertising, 
will be in the hands of the editorial department exclusively, 
but the circulation manager need not sit back and wait until 
the edition is off the press before beginning to take an interest 
in it. His knowledge of the field and of the particular class 
appealed to with reference to the paper's strength or weakness 
among that class, should enable him to give useful hints on 
features, and even to suggest titles for special editions. 

If a paper decides to specialize on school news, for instance, 



SUPPLEMENTS 207 

a good send-off for the news department is a special edition 
that will give the circulation manager an impressive product 
to place before teachers and parents. A circulation manager 
who wants home circulation will tell the publisher where the 
paper is weak in this respect, and will advise the strengthening 
of the department, or the creation of a new one. 

The suffrage number of The New York Evening Post, 
which has been commented upon elsewhere, shows the possi- 
bilities from a circulation viewpoint of special editions. The 
double pull upon circulation and advertising makes special edi- 
tions desirable, but if they come too frequently they are a drain 
upon the advertisers. Some papers label every Sunday edition 
a special edition of some kind, but the true special edition is 
one which eclipses all the paper's editorial and advertising 
records and becomes a way-mark in the paper's history. Such 
special editions are worth-while circulation builders. 

3. Supplements 

The New York Times is a leading example of the circula- 
tion value of supplements. Its weekly Book Review is one of 
the country's foremost literary critical journals, and as such 
lends a prestige to The Times that is valuable in its circulation 
effect among people who follow the book output. 

The Annalist is a more recent trade journal issued weekly 
as a supplement to The Times' excellent daily financial and 
business news. The Times thus makes a special appeal to the 
commercial side of New York, the business Mecca of America. 
The subscription price is $5 a year, and the readers know that 
their money is going into thoroughly well-written, authoritative 
articles. 

When the European War broke out, The Times issued 
notable supplements on the diplomatic correspondence leading 
up to the war, and then began the publication of a mid-week 
war pictorial, using the Roto-gravure process of printing. 



208 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

This supplement sold widely and had a significant circulation 
value. 

Then the paper began the publication of " The Times Cur- 
rent History of the European War," along lines which per- 
mitted the making of a permanent magazine, if desired. It 
contained more than 200 pages, and used Roto-gravure. 

The Times Quarterly Index is a publication which affords 
ready reference to current news, and appeals to libraries or 
individuals who have any reason for referring to newspaper 
files. 

Here are four distinct supplements (The Book Review be- 
ing the only one given away with The Times) which are elabo- 
rations of the daily departments of every newspaper. They 
exist not only on their own merits, but as subsidiary enterprises 
are circulation feeders of the paper itself. 

If The Times had required its readers to buy these supple- 
ments, the circulation effect would have been negative instead 
of affirmative, because many persons are content with the daily 
news departments at one cent. 

The New York Evening Mail and The New York Evening 
Post issue Saturday magazine supplements which, with the 
paper, sell at 5 cents. Here, in a limited sense, the reader is 
required to buy the magazine in order to get the paper. The 
newsboys and dealers push the combination because their 
profits are larger than on the paper alone. In the case of The 
Mail or other evening papers using such supplements, the cir- 
culation is depressed considerably on Saturdays because people 
feel that they must invest 5 cents in order to get The Mail. 
This is equally true of The Post. 

There are, of course, compensatory advantages in a supple- 
ment which make up for the decreased sale. A six-day paper 
without a Sunday edition has many readers who like to wind 
up the week with something more than the regular edition. 
The magazine supplement supplies this need, and inasmuch as 



SUPPLEMENTS 209 

such supplements are usually made up of attractive fiction, 
feature, and art productions, the paper receives prestige from 
their distribution. 

The tendency in the larger cities is for evening papers to 
take advantage of the decreased advertising on Saturday to give 
their readers an increased volume of news and feature articles. 
The stage and moving pictures receive enlarged consideration, 
as do fiction and serial stories. Having done this, the evening 
papers leave supplements and magazines to the Sunday papers. 

For the Sunday papers, syndicates furnish magazine sup- 
plements like The Associated Sunday Magazine, weekly, and 
The American Illustrated Sunday Magazine, monthly. The 
comic and pictorial sections also are supplied to the papers by 
syndicates, leaving the papers to print only such sections as use 
regular white news paper and black ink. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 

Uniform Accounting for Newspapers 

This statement to the author by Russell R. Whitman, man- 
aging director of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, is a lucid 
summary of accounting conditions in American newspaper 
offices : 

The Bureau is at work upon standardized accounting sys- 
tems and records that we can furnish the various publica- 
tions, so their books may be kept efficiently, economically, 
and what is of great importance from our standpoint, uni- 
formly. 

This practice is being compiled with the assistance of our 
field auditors, as well as our office auditors, but has not 
been perfected. The matter is one of extreme importance 
to every publisher and the work of the Bureau so far has 
emphasized to a startling degree the absolute lack of in- 
telligent and practical circulation systems and records in 
most offices. 

The Bureau is confident that the installation of such sys- 
tems and records will not only enable the Bureau's auditors 
to verify circulations much more quickly and accurately, 
but will also save the publishers annually thousands and 
thousands of dollars. 

Simplicity is what the average publisher wants, especially 
the smaller publisher, and he gets scared at anything that 
looks at all complex or involved. It will be the Bureau's 
aim to perfect circulation book-keeping systems for the 
various classes of publications that will meet their require- 
ments and also the Bureau's requirements, and yet be as 
simple as possible. As you know, the simple things are 
oftentimes the difficult things to achieve. We believe that 
our work in this connection will be of immense benefit to 
every publisher and will constitute real service. 
210 



CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 211 

The Bureau hopes to make the publishing business the 
most uniform and best standardized of any business in the 
country, and while this is a big undertaking, we have made 
such a splendid start that we will absolutely achieve this 
result eventually. 

Present Condition of Circulation Accounting 

That the views expressed above are shared by the com- 
petent circulation managers of America is proved by the atti- 
tude of the members of the International Circulation Man- 
agers' Association, who, in their 191 5 convention approved 
the work of the Audit Bureau and are awaiting eagerly its 
results. W. M. Inman, circulation manager of The Chicago 
News, in a paper upon circulation accounting declared that 
practice is so varied that he would forego a discussion in de- 
tail of present accounting records and forms, and recom- 
mended the foregoing decision of the convention. 

Perhaps the most graphic evidence of " the absolute lack of 
intelligent and practical circulation systems and records," 
was a statement made to the members of the Audit Bureau 
at their convention in June, 191 5, that it took the A. B. C. 
auditor four weeks to get one publisher's list in shape so that 
it would be possible to figure the amount of paper stock con- 
sumed ! 

Every office, of course, has its book-keeping system but 
they seldom yield the exhaustive information required in the 
Bureau's reports. As for a system of cost accounting which 
regularly and comprehensively places before the circulation 
manager the answers to such questions as those propounded 
in Chapter V, none exists except in the largest metropolitan 
offices whose operations are on such a vast scale that they 
could not do business without as modern accounting as big 
manufacturers in other lines. 

To a rapidly passing type of circulation manager the 
business office represents simply the source of his pay enve- 



212 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

lope. How the publisher keeps books, what accounting prin- 
ciples are in vogue, and what relation they have to his de- 
partment, concern him little or not at all. But the spirit of 
progress evident in all other phases of circulation management 
has reached the business office and, as Mr. Whitman prophe- 
sies, will place publishing in this respect at par. 

Effects of Audit Bureau Circulation Requirements 

The author had the opportunity of discussing with the 
publisher of a comparatively small daily the revolutionary ef- 
fects of the Audit Bureau requirements in his office. When 
he first perused the questions contained in the report-form 
he felt as helpless as a country postmaster making out his first 
quarterly report to the Government. 

Somewhere in the heterogeneous records of the office was 
the answer to many of the questions, but collating the data 
was a task that taxed the accounting ability of the whole or- 
ganization, with some outside help. Other questions involved 
data which he had never thought it was essential to keep. 

Since then, he has modified his book-keeping and enlarged 
it until he not only can make out the Bureau's reports, but 
every month, every day in fact, he knows for his own benefit 
the status of his circulation in a manner that makes him 
wonder why he ever previously thought he knew what the 
business was doing. 

Here, then, is indeed one of the chief benefits of the Audit 
Bureau to any publisher. If it did no more than to change 
his slip-shod, inadequate, book-keeping methods to up-to-date 
and comprehensive accounting, it would be worth many times 
the cost of membership. In addition, as pointed out in earlier 
chapters, the new standard yields to advertisers the information 
about circulation which they insist upon having before buying 
space. 



CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 213 

Analysis of Circulation Accounting 

By studying the report-forms of the Audit Bureau, the 
standardized accounting toward which newspapers are ad- 
vancing will become apparent. The information required may 
be summarized as follows : 

1. Population of the city (corporate limits) and of the 
retail trading radius outside. 

2. Total net paid circulation; total distribution including 
unpaid circulation: each classified according to distribution by 
carriers, newsdealers, agents, street sales, counter sales and 
by mail. 

3. Circulation statement by editors and time of issue. 

4. Figures given in the last Government report. 

5. Area of the retail trading territory and eight largest 
towns in it. 

6. List of all subscription rates and price per single copy. 

7. The policy as to returns; as to premiums; as to can- 
vassers on salary or commission; as to subscriptions raised 
by clubs and clubbing with other publications; as to the per- 
centage of daily paid circulation sold in bulk to others than 
newsdealers ; as to contests ; as to other promotion methods ; 
as to the kind and value of premiums used; as to the per- 
centage of city circulation and of country circulation delivered 
through the paper's own carriers or independent carriers. 

8. The condition of subscription collections, classified into 
paid-in-advance, on delivery weekly and monthly, and the ar- 
rears under and over one year in city, suburban, and country 
divisions. 

9. The character of advertising excluded and the tele- 
graphic and other news service used. 

This detailed analysis of circulation revenue and promotion 
costs is the result of the new conception of circulation as a 
commodity which progressive advertisers will not buy on its 



214 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

face value. They must know grades, qualities, ingredients 
and methods as well as quantity and price. 

There is, moreover, much other data relative to costs that 
the circulation manager should have at his finger tips. In 
its intricate development a circulation cost accounting system 
would show the expense of operating the mailing room as a 
whole and the expense per copy ; the cost of obtaining renew- 
als or new business; the cost of subscriptions obtained by 
premiums, contests, straight soliciting and other methods ; in 
short, where only guesses now are made, scientific figures 
would be available. 

It is not the purpose to go exhaustively into actual book- 
keeping practice, in this chapter, for the reason given by Mr. 
Inman and the Audit Bureau, namely, that practice is too 
unsettled for conclusions to be announced now. That is to 
say, practice for the average office is yet undetermined, though, 
of course, the metropolitan papers doing a total advertising 
and circulation business in the millions have kept abreast of 
modern accounting methods. The eventual standardized 
practice which is the goal of the Audit Bureau will be an in- 
estimable boon to the average organization. In the meantime 
any newspaper can take a forward step by engaging a com- 
petent public accountant to plan a set of books. 

Forms Used in Circulation Accounting 

For keeping accounts with dealers and agents the loose 
leaf ledger form used by The Louisville Courier-Journal is 
a simple and comprehensive record. 

In handling sales to newsboys, The Courier-Journal re- 
quires cash payments. There is a superintendent in charge 
of the newsboys' department and he is given a definite num- 
ber of papers daily, say 5,000 or 10,000, and is charged with 
these papers. At the end of the day he reports upon the num- 



CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 215 

ber drawn, the number left over, and the amount of cash re- 
ceived for the papers sold. 

The Portland Oregonian uses a larger sheet which contains 
a numerical list of its carrier boys and is arranged to show those 
who draw at the office and those who receive their copies 
by special delivery, and in each case the number drawn and 
the cost. It is a complete and accurate record. 

Much of the information needed to give the circulation 
manager a grasp of the financial details of his department is 
contained in the daily, weekly, and monthly reports of car- 
riers, district managers, agents, newsdealers, solicitors and 
other members of the force. The tabulation and recording 
of this data is most desirable and the books and methods used 
vary in nearly every office. The principal thing is to record 
it in a manner which will make it accessible and to profit by 
the information it yields day by day and in summary. 

A simple and effective tab may be kept upon collections 
by the use of cards. Under one method each collector turns 
in daily a card upon which is shown the number of subscribers 
paying weekly, the number paid in advance, the dead-heads, 
and the total of all these classes under the collector's juris- 
diction with the amount collected. A file of these daily cards 
may be kept, or the data transferred to a permanent book rec- 
ord. 

Routine of Handling Subscriptions 

The course of an individual subscription through the busi- 
ness office of The Indianapolis News and thence to the mail- 
ing room is an example of efficiency that will be described in 
some detail. 

Individual subscriptions are received either direct or 
through agents and are turned over to the subscription de- 
partment. The order, if accompanied by a remittance, goes 



216 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

to the department cashier who stamps upon it the date re- 
ceived, amount received, and form of remittance. It then 
goes to the subscription recorder, who enters it in the cash 
book, giving it a serial number which follows the subscription 
through all subsequent operations until it expires. 

The recorder's books give the name, address, edition, dura- 
tion of subscription, amount paid, and how received. The 
total of the recorder's cash record must agree with that of 
the cashier. The subscription then passes to the card-index 
clerk who examines the records to determine if it is new, or a 
renewal, or from a delinquent subscriber. No card being 
found in the files, the order is considered new and is then 
given to the galley clerk, who places the name on the galley 
proof which also serves as a duplicate record. 

The galley, a proof of which is taken once a month, is 
kept in loose-leaf book form and changes are made therein 
from day to day, practically providing an up-to-date mailing 
list in route form by towns, rural routes, and train runs. 
Under this system the number of subscribers on any given 
train, or in any town or district may be ascertained quickly. 

While the galley shows the subscription list in route form, 
the card index provides an alphabetical list of subscribers by 
name, so that a double check is provided. If a subscriber's 
name is known and not his address, the latter can be traced 
easily by referring to the card index, which gives name, ad- 
dress, date of entry, serial number, expiration date, and how 
the order was received. On the other hand, if only the address, 
and not the name is known, the galley clerk can locate the sub- 
scription readily. 

After the galley clerk has made the proper entry, and 
placed the galley number and expiration date on the order, it 
passes to the typograph operator who makes the zinc plate 
bearing all necessary information — galley number, subscrib- 
er's name, rural route or street number, town, state, serial 



CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 217 

number, and expiration date. The finished plate is laid aside 
until the end of the day, when a proof of all is taken and 
cards are made and checked with the original order and other 
book-keeping entries. The plate then is placed in the galley- 
pan under the proper routing, and the pan goes into the cabi- 
net and is ready for the mailing machine. 

If the original order is new, the operator makes out a card 
for the subscription book-keeper from the zinc plate, which 
gives a complete record; if a renewal, the old card is attached 
to the order, showing the new entry. The original subscription 
is then filed in numerical order according to serial number and 
in the card index file by name of the subscriber. 

If desirable, a subscription proof card can be filed accord- 
ing to expiration dates so that on a given date all the subscrip- 
tions which expire on that day can be " killed " from the cards. 
This obviates the trouble of going over the entire galley proof 
book, or the plates, to find them. 

In the event of the destruction of any part of the records 
by fire or otherwise it is reasonable to presume that some units 
of the system would remain and provide means of immediate 
duplication of the original outfit. Part of the subscription rec- 
ords are kept in fireproof vaults. 

The Mailing Room 

The subscription now is ready for the mailing room and 
the beginning of service to the subscriber. Mechanical 
efficiency in handling newspaper mail has increased notably in 
the last few years, and The News has kept abreast of the times, 
operating two Cox Multi-Mailers, each capable of mailing from 
10,000 to 12,000 copies an hour. As The News has 25,000 in- 
dividual subscribers who receive the paper by mail, it can han- 
dle the entire mail in an hour or an hour and a half, at great 
economies in time, labor, and cost over the old system. 

Under the system of mailing by hand, many errors were 



218 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

made, such as labels being cut in two, being lost from lack of 
paste, from too much paste, sticking together and so not getting 
upon the paper, and from being illegible. These errors irritate 
subscribers and thus hurt the paper. 

The machine eliminates these errors. It will not pass a 
paper through without its address or an address without a 
paper. One operator is sufficient for any paper up to forty- 
pages. The machine will turn out papers in half-fold or quar- 
ter-fold, and divide them by towns in club packages. The ad- 
dress is printed upon the upper right hand border of each 
paper, insuring delivery should the wrapper tear off or be sep- 
arated from the package. 

For any mailing list up to 40,000, eight clerks are required 
and with two or three additional clerks the list could be ex- 
panded to 75,000. The management of the machine is not 
intricate. One operator places the papers in the hopper, in- 
serts the address plates and removes those that have done 
service. The machine automatically does the rest of the work. 

This operator and the machine take the place of four or 
five men under the hand method of handling club packages, and 
the place of from ten to fifteen men in handling single copies. 
When handling single subscriptions a bag-boy is required as 
an assistant to change sacks ; for club packages two hand- 
bundlers are required, but in both instances the assistance re- 
quired is less than half of that employed under the old sys- 
tem. Besides, to become expert at hand-stamping formerly re- 
quired three months' training. Aside from the saving in labor 
and time the chief benefit is in the increased accuracy, which 
assures perfect and expeditious service. 

An addressing machine is part of the mechanical equipment 
of every up-to-date office. It prints the proof of the entire 
subscription list, prints record cards for filing, and also will 
address envelopes for promotion work. With this machine 
subscribers who have quit can be solicited by mail economically 



CIRCULATION ACCOUNTING 219 

because envelope addressing can be done, and mailing subscrip- 
tion literature prepared, quickly and accurately. 

Speed, accuracy and regularity are the features of mail 
service which impress subscribers, and the circulation depart- 
ment which achieves them has a strangle hold on competition. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

POSTAL REGULATIONS AS TO SECOND-CLASS 

MAIL 

The Publisher and the Post-Office 

" When in doubt, consult the post-office ! " 

This is the safest advice that can be given in circulation 
work, and if it had been followed consistently, many beautiful 
promotion schemes would have been saved from rude jolts or 
utter annihilation. 

The post-office department is growing more exacting every 
year in its regulations designed to safeguard the public from 
fraudulent or one-sided business offers. Honest promotion 
schemes, or those conceived by honest persons with the best 
intentions in the world, should not be launched without the 
department's O. K., as otherwise an edition may be tied up in 
the mails and a penalty follow. 

The Third Assistant Postmaster-General is the official in 
charge of the second class of mail matter, which is limited to 
newspapers and periodicals. Form 3500, issued by his divi- 
sion, contains all the regulations concerning second-class mat- 
ter, and may be obtained upon request. A leaflet on the postal 
lottery and fraud statutes of the United States may be obtained 
from the Solicitor for the post-office. 

Regulations as to Contests, Premiums, and Promotion 
Schemes 

With regard to contests, premiums, and other promotion 
schemes, the post-office has the following to say : 

220 



REGULATIONS AS TO SECOND-CLASS MAIL 221 

The methods of a publisher in fixing the price of his pub- 
lication or in inducing subscriptions by giving of premiums, 
prizes, or other considerations, or by clubbing his paper 
with other papers, or by commissions upon subscriptions 
obtained by agents, will be carefully scrutinized in respect 
of their effect upon the legitimacy of the subscription list 
as a whole and upon the question of the primary design 
of the publication. 

Newspapers and other publications in transit which con- 
tain lottery advertisements or lists of prizes drawn at a 
lottery shall be held and a report made to the Assistant 
Attorney-General for the Post-Office Department for in- 
structions. 

As a general rule, subscriptions obtained in connection 
with a combination offer, premium, reduction in the adver- 
tised price, or other extraneous inducement which effects a 
reduction of more than 50 per cent of the regular adver- 
tised subscription price of the publication are regarded as 
at a nominal rate and persons to whom copies are sent in 
fulfillment of such alleged subscriptions may not be in- 
cluded in the " legitimate list of subscribers " required by 
the law. 

It is well to take this and all other statements from the 
post-office seriously. The Federal prisons are filled with men 
who thought they could outwit Uncle Sam. Contest com- 
panies as a rule may be relied upon to offer only schemes which 
have been tested, and it is with regard to his own original con- 
tests which a publisher or circulation manager should be wary. 

Section 213 of the Penal Laws of the United States con- 
tains the following reference to newspapers : 

No newspaper, circular, pamphlet, or publication of any 
kind containing any advertisement of any lottery, gift enter- 
prise, or scheme, of any kind offering prizes dependent in 
whole or in part upon lot or chance, or containing any list 
of the prizes drawn or awarded by means of any such lot- 
tery, gift enterprise, or scheme, whether said list contains 
any part or all such prizes, shall be deposited in or carried 
by the mails of the United States or be delivered by any 
postmaster or letter carrier. 



222 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

The penalty for violation of this statute is a fine of not 
more than $1,000, or imprisonment for not more than two 
years. There is another section of the Penal Laws which pro- 
vides that any person or persons who engage in a business to 
defraud shall be denied the use of the mails and shall be other- 
wise punished. 

The emphasis seems to be placed by the post-office on the 
element of chance in any contest or promotion scheme. If it 
smacks of a lottery, or rafile, it cannot get by. The terms of 
the contest must be stated clearly, it must be open to all on 
equal terms, the manner of deciding the contest and the judges 
must be announced, and the time for which the contest shall 
run must be stated — to mention four leading requirements. 

But no private interpretation of the law like this is con- 
clusive, because the post-office is broadening its own rulings 
and is making unlawful tomorrow schemes that look well today. 
When the new plan is ready, submit it to the postmaster of 
your city and obtain his approval. 

Coupons 

Coupons used by newspapers or periodicals in subscription 
or advertising schemes come under the same general provisions 
as contests, namely, that they must not be part of any lottery, 
and they must not mislead readers in their expectations. The 
use of the word " Free " has been prohibited by the post-office 
when used in coupons and, in general, the object and value 
of the coupon must be stated plainly on its face. 

Papers may use coupons which, when accompanied by cash, 
entitle the reader to a value or a service. It is permissible, 
for example, to offer a dictionary for six coupons and 69 cents. 
But before inserting a coupon which relates to any prize 
scheme, or proposition involving chance, the post-office authori- 
ties should be consulted and the full details of the plan be 



REGULATIONS AS TO SECOND-CLASS MAIL 223 

given. Where no prize is involved, the regulations are as fol- 
lows: 

Coupons, order forms, and other matter intended for 
detachment and subsequent use may be included in per- 
manently attached advertisements, or elsewhere, in news- 
papers and periodicals, provided they constitute only an 
incidental feature of such publications and are not of such 
character, or used to such extent, as to destroy the statu- 
tory characteristics of second-class publications, or to bring 
them within the prohibition of the statute denying the sec- 
ond-class rates of postage to publications " designed pri- 
marily for advertising purposes," or to give to them the 
characteristics of books or other third-class matter. 

Postal Definitions 

The post-office gives the following definitions of news- 
papers and periodicals : 

A " newspaper " is held to be a publication regularly 
issued at stated intervals of not longer than one week and 
having the characteristics of second-class matter prescribed 
by statute. 

A " periodical " is held to be a publication regularly issued 
at stated intervals less frequently than weekly and having 
the characteristics of second-class matter prescribed by 
statute. 

A " legitimate list of subscribers " to a newspaper or peri- 
odical is defined as a list of : 

(a) Such persons as have subscribed for the publication 
for a definite time, either by themselves or by another on 
their behalf, and have paid or promised to pay for it a 
substantial sum as compared with the advertised subscrip- 
tion price. 

(b) News agents and newsboys purchasing copies for re- 
sale. 

(c) Purchasers of copies over the publisher's counter. 

(d) The receivers of bona fide gift copies, duly accepted, 



224 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

given for their benefit and not to promote the interests of 
the donor. 

(e) Other publishers to whom exchanges are mailed, one 
copy for another. 

(f) Advertisers receiving one copy each in proof of the 
insertion of their advertisements. 

Sample Copies 

The " legitimate list of subscribers " is liberal, and is nota- 
bly so when considered in connection with the allowance of 
sample copies. A paper may mail as sample copies, at the 
cent-a-pound rate, 10 per cent of the total number of copies 
issued to the foregoing list of subscribers. This means, for 
instance, that The New York Evening Journal with an average 
circulation of 800,000 daily, may send 80,000 copies as sample 
copies at the cent-a-pound rate. Sample copies in excess of 
this 10 per cent must go at the transient rate of 4 ounces for 
one cent. 

Other main provisions as to sample copies require that 
they be marked as such on the outside of the wrapper, that 
not more than three copies be mailed to one address in one 
year, and that they be sent for the purpose of inducing people 
to subscribe for, advertise in, or become agents for the publica- 
tion. News agents cannot mail sample copies at the cent-a- 
pound rate. 

Mailing Cost of Second-Class Matter 

The Act of March 3, 1885, reduced the postage on second- 
class matter from two to one cent a pound, and this was fol- 
lowed by the great expansion in periodical literature. While 
a return to the two-cent rate, which is agitated in Congress, 
would not be accompanied by a wholesale reduction in the 
number of second-class publications, it would have a marked 
effect upon subscription prices, and upon papers selling at one 
cent. Weak papers would suffer, but the mail business is not 



REGULATIONS AS TO SECOND-CLASS MAIL 225 

so vital to newspapers as to periodicals, many of which would 
suspend because the public would not pay more for them than 
is now asked. An increase to two cents a pound would cost 
the Curtis Publishing Company alone $600,000 a year more 
than present postage bills. 

Newspapers are not allowed to deliver in the city of pub- 
lication at the one-cent-a-pound rate. If they were, the car- 
rier system would disappear overnight, provided the post-office 
carriers were required to distribute at the time papers are off 
the press. To illustrate, a 32-page evening paper, if it weighs 
two copies to the pound, could be delivered at the one-cent-a- 
pound rate for 312 days at a cost of $1.56; while as the weight 
or size of the paper decreases, the mailing cost decreases cor- 
respondingly, so that an 8-page paper could be delivered for 
39 cents, or less, a year. The carrier service, on the other 
hand, is $2.08 for the same period, for any paper regardless of 
its size. i j 

The post-office, for the express purpose of " heading off " 
any such use of the cent-a-pound rate, charges a flat delivery 
rate of one cent a copy for any newspaper in the city of publi- 
cation, which makes the cost $3.12 a year, or $3.65 a year, and 
so is prohibitive. In cities other than the city of publication, 
the cent-a-pound rate is allowed with carrier delivery. Thus, 
The Kansas City Star is charged one cent a copy for delivery 
by mail in Kansas City, whereas it will be delivered by letter 
carrier in Manila, or Alaska, or Bar Harbor, Me., at the cent- 
a-pound rate. 

Newspapers and periodicals enjoy the one-cent rate to 
Mexico, Cuba, and Panama, among foreign countries, and to 
Canada also if issued as often as six times a week. They may, 
of course, have the same rate to any United States possessions, 
including Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippines, the islands of 
Guam and Tutuila, the Canal Zone, and the United States 
postal agency at Shanghai, China. 



226 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 
News Agents' Mailing Rates 

News agents are persons, including newsboys, engaged in 
business as newsdealers or sellers of publications of the sec- 
ond class. If a person restricts himself to advancing the 
interests of a single publication, he is not a " news agent " 
within the meaning of the law, but shall be regarded as a 
mere local agent of the publisher, and not entitled to the 
" news agent's " mailing privileges. 

Under the postal regulations, a paper may send copies in 
bulk to news agents, and the agents then may remail these 
copies at the cent-a-pound rate. Any person other than a news 
agent, who remails a newspaper or periodical, pays at the rate 
of one cent for each 4 ounces. However, when news agents 
return unsold copies, they cannot use the cent-a-pound rate, but 
must pay at the transient rate required of persons remailing 
second-class matter. If news agents return only the headings 
of newspapers, they must pay the third-class rate of one cent 
for 2 ounces. 

Credit Renewals 

As regards papers sent to a subscriber beyond the period 
for which his subscription has been paid, the regulations are as 
follows : 

The right of publishers to extend in good faith credit on 
subscriptions is recognized and will not be abridged, and 
although all subscriptions, are regarded as expiring with the 
period for which they were obtained, nevertheless, in order 
to give an opportunity to secure renewals, copies of their 
publications will be accepted for mailing as to subscribers 
at the usual second-class rates of postage for a period of one 
year from the date of expiration, but copies sent to persons 
after one year from the date of the expiration of their sub- 
scriptions, unless such subscriptions be expressly renewed 
for a definite time together with an actual payment of sub- 
scription or a bona fide promise of payment, will not be 
accepted at the pound rate but will be accepted at the 
transient second-class rate of one cent for each four ounces, 
or fraction thereof, prepaid by stamps affixed. 



REGULATIONS AS TO SECOND-CLASS MAIL 227 

The import of this regulation is that a newspaper can col- 
lect arrears for one year only by a suit at law, provided the 
subscriber has not specifically forbidden the delivery of the 
paper at the expiration of his subscription. An Ohio judge 
recently awarded a paper a judgment for arrears on this prin- 
ciple. To come within the law, there must be, however, a 
tacit understanding between the subscriber and the publisher 
that the paper is to continue after expiration. 

Handling the Outgoing Mail 

Most circulation managers understand the necessity, and 
the great advantage, of carefully sorting mail by states, routes, 
or cities, before delivering to the post-office, but it should be 
emphasized here as one of the most important acts in giving 
good service to subscribers. When a sack of mail not so 
sorted reaches a post-ofnce, the clerks simply throw it aside 
until they are at leisure, and subscribers get their papers a day 
or so late. 

Separate sacks or bundles must be made of sample copies, 
copies entitled to free county circulation, and copies at the 
cent-a-pound rate. Five or more copies to one town must be 
tied together, with the name of the town outside; if there are 
30 pieces weighing 15 pounds or more (periodicals usually), 
they must be put in a separate sack. Where the mail to any 
one point can be put in one sack, a great saving of time in 
handling is made. 

Keeping on Good Terms with the Post-Office 

To be on good terms with the post-office is the best advice 
that can be given to a circulation department. It is also good 
advice for any department of a newspaper. 

There was considerable opposition among newspapers when 
the law requiring a statement of circulation, and of the names 
of the editors, owners, and stockholders, and also requiring 



228 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

reading notices to be labelled " advertisements," was proposed ; 
and yet it was a reasonable regulation of the press and has 
worked much benefit in higher standards of honesty in circu- 
lation work. The statements must be made twice a year, 
April i and October I. 



It has not been the intention in this chapter to touch other 
than the high points in postal regulations. The main purpose 
is to emphasize the importance of knowing the regulations and 
living up to them to the letter, even though the post-office may 
be long-suffering and full of mercy. 



FORMS 



I. Forms Relating to Subscriptions and Deliveries 

II. Forms Relating to Collections 

III. Forms of Reports 

IV. Rules, Regulations, and Association Forms 
V. Detailed Instructions to Solicitors 

VI. Forms Relating to Accounts 

VII. Miscellaneous Forms 

l Dimensions given in captions of forms show the sizes of originals. First di 
mension is width of form; second dimension, height. 



229 



I. FORMS RELATING TO SUBSCRIPTIONS AND 
DELIVERIES 



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FORMS FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERIES 235 



COMPLAINT slip. 

1 91 

Mr 



COMPLAINED TO THIS OFFICE THAT 



PLEASE GIVE THIS MATTER YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. CALL ON 
THE SUBSCRIBER AND EXPLAIN. ALSO REPORT ON THE REVERSE 
SIDE OF THIS SLIP WHAT ACTION YOU HAVE TAKEN TO REMEDY THIS 
COMPLAINT. AND RETURN IT TO OUR OFFICE THROUGH YOUR SUB- 
STATION. 

THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS. 

CITY CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 

FOR CARRIER. 

FORM 10O 



Form 5. Complaint Slip. For carrier. Size, 5x3% inches. 







STOP 


Carrier 


Bail? anil &unbap ©regontan 

Name 




Address 


Between and jf 


Reason 


gj0- It is to your advantage to have as many subscribers as possible. 
See the above party at once and endeavor to secure a renewal. 



Form 6. Stop Order Blank. Form used by The Portland Oregonian. 

Size, 5^x3 inches. 



236 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



Stop Order 



191.. 



Name . . 
Address . . 
Reason . . . 



Stations Bulletined 



How Received 
By Whom . . . 



Record No. 
0. K 



Carrier's Signature. 

Station 



Districtman. 



Carrier's Stop Order 

Please stop The News now being delivered 
by you to 



Mr. 



Reason 



THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS, 

City Circulation Dept. 



Form 7. Stop Order Blank. Sine, 2>%^7V2 inches. 



FORMS FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERIES 



237 



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240 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



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FORMS FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERIES 241 




242 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 







Route No. 




Address 


Date 


Taken By 


Months Term 




Premium 




Date delivered or rec'd. 




Stopped 


Office 


Carrier Contract No. 




Reason 

for 

Stop 






over 



Form 13. Subscription Index Card. Form used by The Portland Ore- 
gonian. Size, 5x3 inches. 



Nome and Address 

L4 C 


W MCGUIRE 




How Ordered 

1 


HOTEL DEL PRADO 
CHICAGO ILL 
S9379-AUG-5-15 


2 


3 


4 


5 


Remarks: 


Date Paid 


Serial No. 


Cash 


Com'n. 


Combinations 


Sab Expires | Killed 


1 














2 














3 














4 














3 















Form 14. Subscription Index Card. Form used by Tlic Indianapolis 
News. Size, 5x3 inches. 



II. FORMS RELATING TO COLLECTIONS 



Amount Date. 

Name 



If paper is not delivered regularly nc 
MAIN 7070— A 6095 



Mf. 



For Subscription to 

<Ehe<©regoniaR 

DAILY and SUNDAY 
20c Per Week, 75c Per Month 



Months Weeks 



From 191... 

To- 191.- 



Amount. 



NOTE— We feel it only justice to infoTin our 
subscribers that all our Carriers are obliged to settle 
for their papers \veekly, and any failure, on the part 
of subscribers to pay is a direct loss to them. Please 
bear in mind the amount is small in each individual 
case, but in the -aggregate a serious matter for the 
Carrier that serves you. 



Received Payment 

Carrier. Route No. 



Date 



PRESERVE THIS RECEIPT. 



191. 



Form 16. Carrier's Receipt for 
Collections — Continuing Form. 
Size, 2%x5 1 / £ inches. 



Form 15. Carrier's Receipt for 
Collections. Form used by The 
Portland Orcgonian. Size, 3x6% 
inches. 



Began 



Collection Day 



1914 
RECEIPT CARD 

The Indianapolis News 

28 and 30 West Washington Street 

Indianapolis, Indiana 

Old Main 4900-TELEPHONES-Now 2600 

Name ___ 

Address 

Name of Carrier 

Station Record, No' 



Payment Received to Date Signed or Punched 



JANUARY, J9H 
3 10 17 24 31 



FEBRUARY 

7 14 21 28 



MARCH 
7 14 21 23 



APRIL 
4 11 18 25 



MAY 
2 9 16 23 



JUNE 
6 13 20 27 



tft ? 

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fi-a 



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5.2 3 * 

a . 3 u 

\4 5 

c|2 o 

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O ~ o — s b S 

B ll|Hl 



JULY, 1914 
4 11 18 25 



AUGUST 

1 8 15 22 29 



SEPTEMBER 
5 12 19 26 



OCTOBER 
3 10 17 24 31 



NOVEMBER 
7 14 21 28 



DECEMBER 
5 12 19 26 



243 



244 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 





8*»W 








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III. FORMS OF REPORTS 



N 



NEWSPAPER FORM 

FOR DAILY AND SUNDAY 
HOT mCLUDING WEEKLY EDITIONS 



Publishers Quarterly Statement 

Subject to Annual Verification by 

Audit Bureau of Circulations 

Railway Exchange Bldg., Chioago 



1 

2. City.. 



3. State 4. Year Estab 

5. This statement for the three months, JULY, AUG.SEPT., 1914 

6. Published every morning, evening and Sunday except 



7. Population, City (Corporate Limits) Last U. S. Census. _ .Present Estimate.. 

" " Trading Territory (Total City and Suburban) _ 



8. Give below daily average circulation for period covered by Section 5, above, after all returns are deducted : 
DISTRIBUTION MORNING EVENING SUNDAY 



♦CITY NET PAID 
Carriers . , 

Newsdealers ..... 




- 
























... 






.... 


.. 












... 




















:::. 


Counter Sales i . . r . . 














Total Net Paid— City . . 

•SUBURBAN NET PAID 

Suburban Carriers . . . 
Suburban Agents 
and Newsdealers . . 

Suburban Mail Subs . . . 






































Total Net Paid— Suburban 
Total City and Sub'njgjj, 
COUNTRY NET PAID 
Country Newsdealers . . 

Country Mail Subs. . . . 






































Total Net Paid— Country . 






- 




- 


- 


... 


- 














... 


... 


._ 


I 


TOTAL NET PAID . . . 

UNPAID 

Employes, Correspon- 
dents and Service . . 

Office Use and 
Office Files . . ; . . 

Advrs. and Adv. Agts. . . 
Exchanges and 
Complimentary .... 

Sample Copies 




































Total Free Copies . . . . 




































.. 


TOTAL DISTRIBUTION . . 






.. 


.... 


.... 








.. 








1 






... 





•CUT tefui to corporate Umiti, Suburban U t 



Form 18. Quarterly Statement to Audit Bureau of Circulations. 
First page of the report, showing the distribution by city, suburban, 
and country, and unpaid. Size, Sxii inches. 

245 



246 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



M 

22. (a) To what extent is your publication returnable: City? Country? „ 



(b) Do you give premiums? 

(By "premium" Is meant any article which the subscriber gets as on Inducement to obtain his subscription.) 

(c) Do you employ canvassers on salary? On commission? _ 

(d) Do you obtain Subscriptions from club raisers (paid by rewards other than cash)? 

(e) Do you club with other publications? _• 

(f) What percentage of circulation was sold in bulk other than to newsdealers? „ „ % 

(g) Do you run Circulation Contests? (h) Label Contests? , 

(i) Trade Mark Contests? (j) Coupon Contests? (k) Voting Contests? 

(1) What other Circulation Contests? __ 

(m) Give details and general nature of offers and approximate retail market value of premiums and prizes 

used _ 



(n) From what sources other than the preceding (except direct and through newsdealers) do you receiv* 
subscribers? 



23. What percentage of your circulation in city and suburban do you deliver through your own carriers? % ; 

Thru independent carriers? % 

State condition by per cent of your circulation ccilections : CITY and SUBURBAN — Paid in advance or 

on delivery? %; Paid weekly? %; Paid monthly? %; 

Arrears, under one year? %; Over one year? %. 

COUNTRY— (Newsdealers and mail subs.) Paid in Advance? %; Paid weekly? %; 

Paid monthly? %; Arrears, under one year? %; Over one year? %. 

24. Of what associations is your publication an official organ? 



2sf. Wfcat classes or character of advertising do you exclude?.. 



26. To what publishers organizations do you belong?.. 



27. Whatjelegraphic or.other news service do you uae?.. 



Form 19. Quarterly Statement to Bureau of Circulations. Third 
page of the report, showing the exhaustive nature of the inquiry into 
circulation methods. Sice, 8x11 inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



247 



District Man's Daily Report 

W»at.fi»r Tfttnnfirature 


191 












St.tlo. 


turn.. 


No- Received 


Lett ««.■. 


Tb.e .f Arrivu 


No. *Vat»" | No. -St.o»" 


Claourea 




Foarth 












To 




Uat 












To 




Extra 












To 




a a Extra 










I 




Supplies Needed 




Suggestions 








Arrived at my station at p. m. Reported Off duly and left .-...p. 


m. 


Station 1 Edltloa 


No. Receive* 1 Left « p. at. 1 Time of Arrival 


No. <•»...„.» 


No. "Slo.." 


Ckawa 


Fourth 












To 




Last 








1 


To 




Extra 








1 


To 




a a Extra 








I 


to 




Supplies Needed 




Suggestions ' 






stotlon 


Edltloa 


No. Received 


Left S D. m. 


Time of Arrival j No. "Leavee" 


No. "Stops" 


Ckaasea 




Fourth 






1 




To 




Last 












To 




Extra 












To 




B. a Extra 








To 




Supplies Needed 




Suggestions 






Work done a. m. 








Work done p. m. 
















(Write nan- 


es of new subscrll 


era secured on otl 


er tide If necessary U) complete rep 


orto °'* ttlrt ■'- 



Form 20. District Man's Daily Report. Form used by The Indian- 
apolis News. Size, 8%xii inches. 



248 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



DISTRICTMEN'S DAILY CALL SHEET 

Reporting Time 191. 



Districlman. 


STalior 


A. M. 




P. M. 






A 
























B 


- 




















C 


























D 
























E 






















F 
























G 
























H 




























- 







P 




-■" 




*- 


• ■ 










Q 


















R 














(••• 




R 




I 






T 





















X 




















Cen. 


1 


1 










Nth. 


















1 



















1 





• • 


'....,, 1 





Form 2i. District Men's Daily Call Sheet. Form used by The Indian- 
apolis News. Size, 7x14 inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



249 



101 

Name , 


1987 


Sfrfrt 


STOPPED NEWS 

For Stat* — Rea»o n 


For Sun — R««ftn 


For Other Reasons 


Result of 2nd Call 


191 





Result of 3rd Call 



3rd Call 



1987 

191_ 



Name*. 
Street _ 



Stopped News (or Star. 



Stopped News for Sun. 

Reason: 



Result of 3d Call 



2nd Call 



1987 

191. 



Name 
Street 



Stopped News, for Star. 
Stopped News for Sun. 
Reason : 



Result of 2nd Cell 



Wntt 00 otb« sde if 



Form 22. District Man's Report on Stopped Subscription. Form is 
made in three parts {on one sheet and perforated) and shows results 
of efforts to obtain renewal. Size, 11^x3 inches. 



250 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



RURAL SOLICITOR'S DAILT REPORT 



Town. ....... County. . ... . . »••.-... --,...,! 

Weather >,>•.. ..... ^.,1&1... 



Number of cash orders Amount collected $ . 

Number of credit or note orders. 

Collected on note orders . .,. .$ 



Total cash ,.....$. 

Amount of signed notes , • » $ 



Total business for the day. cash and credit $. 



Canvassed on Route- No. — .- 

Called on and solicited people. 

Which Indianapolis paper is strongest? 

To your knowledge is any other solicitor canvassing the above j route now? 



When was the route canvassed last?. 
By whom and for what paper?. ...... 



Remarks 



Signed 

Solicitor. 
Write on other side, if necessary to complete report. Do not send communications on 
separate sheets of paper. 



Form 22,. Rural Solicitor's Daily Report. Form used by The Indian- 
apolis News. Size, 6xio inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



251 



RURAL SOLICITORS' TOWN REPORT. 



191. 



Town > County 

This report is to be filled out when canvass of town is completed. 






Postmaster's name 

Does he or his assistant take'News subscriptions'? 

Is he friendly to The News? 

If not, why?.. , 1 



Does he or his assistant take subscriptions for other Indianapolis newspa- 



pers? 

Name them .. 

How many rural routes 

Names of substitute mail carriers 



NAMES OF RURAL CARRIERS. 


Route No. 


Carrier. 


State here whether carrier 
is friendly o_r unfriendly. 





































































This route was last canvassed 

on 191 



Solicitor. 



Form 24. Rural Solicitor's Town Report. Form used by The Indian- 
apolis News. Size, 6x10 inches. 



252 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



RURAL SOLICITOR'S WEEKLY REPORT. 

,. : . .County Week Ending . . 
Solicitor 





Town 


Route 
No.. 


i Amoun 


t of 


Amour 


t of 


Total 


Vmt 


No of Order. 






Collected 


Accepted 




1 Vmi 


'"S? 




Monday . . . 
























Tuesday . . . 
























Wednesday 
Thursday ., 






































































Saturday <■■■ 
























Total.... 

























SUPPLIES ON HAND 



UHE 



,,:!al MMpsf-S 



EXPENSE ACCOUNT 

THE NEWS does not pay living expenses for solicitors. Only expense to be paid by THE INDI- 



ANAPOLIS. NEWS should be itemized below and if properly incurred. 

will be added to your salary check. 

All mileage books must be returned when not in use. 


according tc 


our instructions. 




MonaaV 


Tuesday 


Wednesday 


ThnrsHHy 


Friday 






































































Total 

















'Miscellaneous expense must be item 1 : 







LIVERY BILLS 




















IVl.las 




f..irj ' 


















































Total ; 

































ITEMIZED EXPENSES INCLUDED ABOVE. 



MOTE — Solicitors must not pay livery bills. Checks for such expense will be mailed direct from 
this office, upon receipt of liveryman's bill, properly O. K.'d by the solicitor. If solicitor furnishes his 
own livery, he will enter the expense therefor in the proper place for livery expense 
The Lines Below Are for Our Exclusive Use. 



Extensions 0. K. 

Salary *. 

Expenses %. 

Total ?. 



Expenses O. K. 



I'aiJ by check :No. 



Form 25. Rural Solicitor's Weekly Report. Sice, 7 1 /£xn 1 / £ inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



253 



TRAVELING REPRESENTATIVE'S DAILY REPORT 



Town. 



State. 



.-. *•-«-- iHto....;-..;.OT.~~.~.u... 

Mr ...» i has turned over to me. the names at. ..• j* .subscribers. 

which I accept. I now have .regular subscribers. 

Make my standing order... ... . . .daily.-. .. . .*iV ...Ex. Saturday _«. 

Signed.... -~^_. ■■ . . 



-Ex. Sunday. 



. .^. Apent. 



NOTICE TO AGENTS — Do not accept from traveling men subscribers who are, to ymr kn^vWdge, not good pay. 
They hare instructions to turnover to yon only first-class business. Read the above trier carefully before you 
sign your name. 



I secured ,...., 

I appointed .as agent. 
In place of 



Commence charging him for papers. 



t will be at. 
I will be at. 
I will be at. 
t will be at. 



COLLECTIONS "MADE HERE AS FOLLOWS: 


Agent's Name 


Am't BUI 


Am't Coll. 


Unsold 


Other Credits 


In Pull To 



















































.Traveling Representative. 



IF NECESSARY. WRITE ON OTHER SIDE. 



Form 26. Traveling Representative's Daily Report. Form used by The 
Indianapolis News. Size, 8x10^ inches. 



254 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 





TRAVELING REPRESENTATIVE'S REPORT 














TOW* 


HOTEL 


WORK DOME 


**ssr 


Sunday 






~ 




Monday 










Tuesday 










Wednesday 










Thursday 










Friday 










Saturday 




' 






CASH COLLECTIONS AGENTS ACCOUNTS 


OASH PREMIUMS 


EXPENSES - Please Itemize 




OaaA 


H.mdlngm 








































































- 


























































- 


TOTAL - - - - - 


















MILEAGE REPORT 


DATE 


FROM 


TO 


a SS. K 


Rm At or Intorurban Una 


Milam 


%Xi 


Oman 






























— 




































































































Traveling R»pr«««ntfctl»^Th« ladunapolla N«w» 



Form 27. Traveling Representative's Weekly Report. She, S^xii^ 

inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



255 






Daily Report for. 



Indiana 



Weather Temj 


















REPORT ON ARRIVAL OF PAPERS 


t*i«. 


No. »«'! 


»-»-*«• 


Time of 

orrtvol 


%s*ss. 


Hon received— Sfall.Expreaa 
or TractJoif 


.« «e,.,e. «.r. «„.. „ ^. lbIe 










































































■ 








State J ...J. ! . 








Extra [ 1 ,....'...' 








BUNDLES' RECEIVED HERE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO CONNECTING UNES. 


Bandies for follovf-lBK towpa 


Edition Tnufemd 10 


A. M. P. M. 


Pec—a e my order 


-™« « order 


-, 


{ 












I ' 












1. 












.1 










::::::::::::::r:::::i:::::::::::i:::::::r.:::::::::;::::::: 










NEWS STOPS AND REASONS GIVEN BY SUBSCRIBERS 














so.u« 


Needed 














S : ; ■...„ 







Press/Started % 

Run Completed « 

Carriers all out i . 

Papers Charged to Us. 



.P.M. 
.P.M. 



City ... 

Country 



News alone . 
Other paper i 
Both papers 
Remarks 



.News -alone ... 

Other paper alone. 
Beth papers 



Work don# a. m. Subscriljers secured. 



.Complaints jnveatrgated. 



Work done p. m.. 



MW tfee other aide (or 



oa. criticisms and areaeral remark** •^RB 



Form 28. Special Agent's Daily Report. Form used by The Indian- 
apolis News. Size, S^xii 1 ^ inches. 



256 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



F.n, .... 




Indianapolis News Aeencv at. Indiana 








Week Ending 


:.m.. 






Monday 


Tuesday 


Wednesday 


Thursday 


Friday 


Saturday 


total 


Distribution 


Reg. 


EBX. 


Re«. 


BBX. 


Reg. 


BBX. 


Reg. 


BBX. 


Reg, 


BBX. 


Reg. 


BBX. 


Reg. 


BBX. 


Carriers 






























News Stands.- .... 






























Newsboys 






























Miscellaneous .... 






























Total put out. . . . 






























Left OB hand 






























Total No. received. 




















I 










Collections Itemized 


SPECIAL 
NOTICE 

Deductions for unsold 
copies of The News should 
not be made from remit- 
tances every week; they 
should only be deducted 
from News bills every four 
or five weeks, at which 
time the whole copies 
should be returned by 
freight or express, at The 
News's expense; When- 
ever deductions are made 
for unsold copies, the bill 
of lading must accompany 
the remittance, otherwise 
credit will not be allowed. 
All bundles of unsold must 
be securely tied with rope 
or wire, to assure safe car- 
riage, and addressed : Cir- 
culation Department, The 
News, Indianapolis. Ind. 
We will always pay charges 
at Indianapolis. 


Total left over (not put out) . 


Carriers 






Total returns (unsold for week) 


■1 

1 


Newstands 






Net Number to be paid for 




Newsboys . .■ 






U.e for* toknnlrta a.kl.r d<4«etlou f.r .u.14. 


Mail Subs ,. 






Emilia*. 




Miscellaneous 












Total collections. 












Itemized Expenses 




























Tot.l faaelri far 

M»tf .bloix-d 
















Total collections 










Total paid out 




Total 






Remittance 




Remarks: 












Special Agent 



Form 29. Special Agent's Weekly Report. Size, 8%xii inches. 



FORMS OF REPORTS 



257 

























i 




| 


| | 










1 
S3 


m 






























1 










































!•»« 


1 y. 
Z 

Ed 

i 
1 


















1 
1 

i 

1 

i 




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i 




1 




i 


gj 

1 

I 


j i : 

| I 

£ 


: 1 « 




^ 


j 
















I 




I 




c 

1 


! 


1 


-! 
5 


1 




s 1 

2 2 s 


3 1 z 




s 
4 






















c 


1 

w 


1 


1 
55 




£ 




I 1 1 


3 3 






|f I 








j 














t;ii 










«4S 
J 
















till 


!| I 








-I 1 






























■i 

s 

"8 


- 
1 

8 

£ -i 

m 


" j 
























*tli 

|J||« 


K 1 

1 i 

if 




1 


I f 


j 1 
















U| 










1 
1 




ll 


s3 u 




















-5 


| 0! 
















! 


1 


hijl 


_s s| 






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\ 










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£ 


*" 8 "§-o 




i* 




! 


I 

! 










i 

3 


c 

s 


IJIII 




| 




1 




1 : 

J 

IS 


1! 


1 


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£ 
55 


liKi 




| 




i 


II! 








1 ! 
1 ! • 








• . , 




1 










£*afs 










•**> 
£ 




M 1 




1 




1 








3111? 

2 l s § 1 










1 


1 
1 

















a. 


£ 










1 






^ 














s 


1 i 






1 






as 


1 ! 


, J 


! 1 






1 








S 

Is 


j 
| 


1 


Hi*? 

g ? If 




■ 






! 


! i i 










:; 




l 
1 








Si 


' 






i 






O 


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6 


S* s .ga 




1 






n 


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1 
1 




1 


a 



j 


1 


3 


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£ 


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?- 


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a 


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<r> 




tt. 




— 


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Cl 


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g 


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1-1 








<^ 




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258 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



I — — - 


s 




























\ 


























f. 
























































' 


























J L 


■*«. 


>.— 























c 
o 

</3 

1 

1 

c 

o 

% 

H 

LU 

X 

CO 

Q 


u 

CO 

UJ 

2 
< 


IE 






























- 






























s 






























s 






























s 






























2 






























a 






























= 






























s 






























« 




























1 


. 






























- 






























• 






























- 


























( 


* 




























- 






























m 




























( 


- 






























n" 








.- 


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c 






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„ 

gg 
H 

a 

Q 
< 




























' 


s 






























. 

a 

z 




























j 



p"-— ' ' ^ — ^ ■ 








r 










r 








r 


f 


f 


r 




ssasssssESssi! 


1 







FORMS OF REPORTS 



259 







•to 












1 






.00 


















^s k 


k 
















»x * 


« 


















I 
























* 


«> 
















* z% 


1 














s « 1 


• 














. Reco 

merit, 
and h 


> 


(- 












£ 

M 


ui 

t- 














Hs> 


















^ "** 


u 


u. 










U 






tt 

I 




UI 

2 










<u 




Q * 





■< 

z 
















1 1 

a 












Subsc 

LIS NEW 


Station... 

5 Circulat 
s of each, 


Jj 

1 












cc 










^ O 


^ TVS 


"O 


LU 










O a 


B 


2 










ete List 

IE INDIANA 


ically, but must be p 


3 
2 

a: 

1- 
c/> 




















aE 




SI 












E 






**H 


A 

a. 

•0 

4j 


tu 

















i 


z 










x 


il 







3 










z 


*C "e- 




h 


u - 










r 


1 *~i ^C 




9 

B 

3 

a 


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K 

00 

a: 










> 
z 


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S5 

4> 


c_> 

CO 

CO 

3 










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s! 






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1 




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4 


§ 


























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i 












j 












J. 


CO 


tf3 



Co 



260 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



DAILY PRESS REPORT. 


Mail Room 














West Side 












East Side 












News Stands 












Office 












Dead Head 












1st Ed. Sales 












1st Ed. Returns 












Samples: City, County, 
























TOTAL 




f 






Press Started First Ed. 


Press Started Second Ed. 


Press Started Third Ed. 


Press Started Fourth Ed. 


Signed 


Mail Clerk. 


OFFICE REPORT. 


Reed, from Mail Room 




















To Street Circulator 


















To News Stands 


















To Advertising Dept. 
















— 


To Carriers 
















To Dead Head 




































To City Cir. 8 A. U 


















TOTAL 




















Date. 191 



Form 33. Daily Press Report. Form used by The 
Portland Oregonian. Size, 3 1 / £x7 1 / £ inches. 



IV. RULES, REGULATIONS, AND ASSOCIATION 

FORMS 

Form 34. Rules of The Indianapolis News Association of Carriers. 



Name. This Association is organized and conducted by the Circula- 
tion Department of The Indianapolis News and shall be known as The 
Indianapolis News Association of Carriers. 

Object. The object of this Association is to promote the circulation 
of The Indianapolis News, to teach its members self-government and 
brotherhood, to encourage industry, thrift, and economy; to promote 
honest methods in business dealings and to familiarize them with the 
little courtesies that make better men ; to teach them their duty to them- 
selves and to society and to develop character and the spirit of pro- 
gressive citizenship. 

Membership. Any boy or girl eight years of age or over, regardless 
of color, religion, or nationality who will abide by the rules and regu- 
lations of the Association as hereinafter set forth is eligible to member- 
ship. 

Record Number. Every member of the Association will be given 
a record number, which number he will keep as long as he is a member 
of the Association in good standing, providing, however, that he carries 
four (4) or more copies of The Indianapolis News to regular subscribers 
daily. 

Reporting Time. Every carrier must report at his Substation for his 
supply of papers not later than 4 o'clock p.m. daily and at such other 
times as may be designated by the Circulation Department of The In- 
dianapolis News from time to time, which changes are governed by the 
time of going to press. Boys who persist in reporting late will be ex- 
pelled. 

Bulletin Boards. Every Station shall be supplied with a bulletin 
board for posting notices to carriers. All " stop " orders and " com- 
plaints " will be posted on the bulletin board. Every carrier must 
watch the bulletins for such notices and if any order so posted refers 
to his subscriber he must immediately notify the Station Manager. Any 
carrier who fails to acknowledge any " stop " or " complaint " order and 
is later found to be the negligent carrier will not only lose the sub- 
scriber in question, but is liable to be expelled from the Association. 

Carrier Slips. Every carrier must fill out a " carrier slip " each 

261 



262 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

day, showing the number of papers bought that day and also the number 
bought the day previous. The name and address of every person who 
" stops " or the reason for stopping, and the name and address of every 
" new " subscriber must be distinctly written and correctly given. Ad- 
dresses alone or names alone will not be sufficient. The initials of sub- 
scribers must also be given in each case. No excuse will be accepted 
from any carrier for failure to comply with this rule. 

Payment of Papers. Credit will not be extended to carriers under 
any circumstances. Cash must be paid for all copies of The Indian- 
apolis News at the regular wholesale price, I cent per copy for the 
regular Editions and }£ cent per copy for Baseball Editions unless other- 
wise ordered. Boys who fail to pay for their papers will not be sup- 
plied. For the convenience of carriers money will be accepted in ad- 
vance for several days' supply of papers and a careful record will be 
kept of such payment and proper credit given. The Substation Manager 
or District Man has no authority whatsoever to suspend this rule. 

Supplying Papers to Carriers. Each Substation Manager will sup- 
ply his carriers in the order in which they fill out their carrier slip and 
pay for their papers, except in cases where carriers deliver " deadhead " 
copies to individuals, or packages to news-stands, in which event such 
boys should be given the preference. Carriers should not be supplied 
under any circumstances according to the number of papers they carry, 
the older carriers who have large routes should not be given the prefer- 
ence over smaller boys who carry only a small number of papers. To 
facilitate the distribution to carriers, they should form in line and be 
supplied in rotation. Substation Managers must use their own dis- 
cretion to bring about this result, as quite frequently conditions are not 
alike at all Stations throughout the city. 

Counting Papers. Every carrier must count his papers before he 
leaves the Station. All papers given him in excess of the amount paid 
for must be returned. No claim for " shortages " will be allowed unless 
claim is made before carrier leaves the Station. Soiled or mutilated 
papers should be returned to the Station Manager and should under no 
circumstances be delivered to the subscriber. 

Delivery to Subscribers. Carriers must not loaf around the Station 
after they have been supplied with papers, but must begin delivery to 
their subscribers at once. Playing along the route or " killing time " in 
any other manner will not be permitted. Every carrier in the city, no 
matter how many papers he carries or the ground he covers, should 
have every copy of The News delivered by 5 130 p.m., and as much earlier 
as possible. Papers should not be rolled or folded, but irt every instance 
should be delivered flat. Papers should be placed where they will be 
safe in windy and stormy weather. Extra precaution should be used to 
prevent papers from; being stolen. Careless delivery of papers on 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 263 

porches and lawns will cause many complaints and the probable loss of 
routes to carriers. The subscriber should be consulted in nearly every 
case as to the place where paper is to be left. On " rainy days " papers 
should be protected as much as possible, by being placed under the 
door mat so that they can be easily found, behind screen doors, or, 
better still, delivered into the hands of subscribers. If this work is done 
right it will delay carriers slightly, but the greater satisfaction given 
subscribers will counterbalance the delay. 

Deportment at Stations. Under no circumstances will carriers be 
allowed to sit on the counter, spit on the floor, smoke or chew, scuffle, 
act in a boisterous manner, mutilate the premises or commit any nuisance 
in or around the Station. The playing on lawns of residents in the 
neighborhood of the Station will not be permitted. Deportment in gen- 
eral at the station must be as good as it would be in a schoolroom, and 
violators of this rule will be unceremoniously expelled. 

New Business. Every carrier should devote his spare time in so- 
liciting for new business on his route. His efforts should be confined 
to as small a territory as is practicable to insure prompt delivery and 
collections. Jumping from one street to another is discouraged. The 
larger the number of subscribers in limited territory, the better. New 
subscribers received by carriers from the Station Manager must be given 
careful attention. Delivery should be made on the day the order is 
given. In each case the carrier should call on the subscriber to ascer- 
tain the place of delivery of The News and to have the subscriber sign 
his " leave order," showing the proper delivery of the first copy. Should 
the subscriber not be found at home, the signature of the servant will 
be accepted. If the house is closed, signature should be secured on 
" leave order " as soon as possible after the paper is started. Carriers 
who neglect to show proper delivery of the first copy by securing signa- 
ture of subscriber to the " leave order " without sufficient excuse will be 
severely reprimanded with the possible penalty of not being given new 
subscribers in the future. Carriers must not allow papers to be deliv- 
ered by some one else for convenience; they must attend to such work 
in person or through a substitute or helper. 

Buying and Selling Routes. No carrier is allowed to buy or sell 
subscribers from another carrier without having first consulted the Sta- 
tion Manager. His permission must be obtained first under penalty of 
expulsion. 

Helpers and Substitutes. It is suggested that every boy who carries 
more than 50 papers employ a helper. This is necessary on account of 
the bulk of the paper on Fridays and Saturdays and to facilitate the 
delivery. Every such helper, if employed regularly, must be recorded at 
the Station. He will be provided with a record number, the same as 
the carrier employing him, being distinguished, however, from the regu- 



264 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

lar carrier by the letter " A, B, or C," after the record number, as the 
case might be. For example — should carrier No. 36 employ two help- 
ers, one of these carriers will be known as No. 36-A, and the other shall 
be known as No. 36-B, and so on, according to the number of helpers 
employed. No helper or substitute will be recognized at the Station, 
nor share in any privileges of this Association at any time unless he is 
recorded at the Station in the proper manner. Every carrier shall ap- 
point a substitute who will deliver his route in the absence of himself, 
such substitute to be governed by the same rules and regulations as regu- 
lar carriers. Every carrier will be held responsible for his substitute 
and any violations by such substitutes may cause the regular carrier to 
lose his route, the same as if said violation was committed by the regular 
carrier himself. 

Vacations. Should any carrier desire to take a vacation he must 
first secure the permission of the Station Manager in order to retain his 
route, and a substitute must be appointed who will abide by all the rules 
and regulations of the Association. The News shall not be expected to 
report any violations by the substitute to the regular carrier while absent 
from the city. The Station Manager reserves the right to take charge 
of the route if the substitute fails to give proper service and will turn 
the business over to such other carriers as he may see fit to appoint in 
order to protect the interests of The Indianapolis News and no compen- 
sation will be allowed the regular carrier under any circumstances unless 
such route was disposed of for a consideration, in which event he will 
be paid the amount received less the amount paid out for the expense 
incurred in taking care of the route during his absence. 

Collections. The price of The Indianapolis News to subscribers is 
10 cents per week, unless otherwise ordered. Collections at that rate 
should be made from subscribers at regular intervals, preferably once 
every week. When subscribers do not care to pay that often, collections 
should be made at their convenience, but not at greater intervals than 
every four weeks. Carriers are expected to pay for their papers daily 
and should not extend credit for a protracted period. If subscribers 
refuse to pay promptly, The News should be discontinued. A reason in 
each case should be given on the carrier's slip as to why the paper is 
stopped. Collections should be made as near as possible on the same 
day of the week; Saturday morning is considered to be the best time 
to make collections. Each carrier should keep a route book, in which an 
accurate account should be kept and subscribers should be urged to use 
regular collection cards as furnished by The Indianapolis News for 
receipts, such cards to be punched each time a collection is made. Fre- 
quently subscribers do not care to bother with receipt cards, in which 
case the carrier should use every precaution and care to keep the ac- 
counts straight, in order to avoid disputes. The Indianapolis News is 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 265 

not responsible for any sums lost by carriers from subscribers, through 
removals, disputes, or for any other reason. The Station Manager will 
help carriers to straighten out disputed accounts whenever it is possible, 
but will not make a practice to assist carriers to collect. Every carrier 
stands on his " own bottom " and is expected to keep his accounts 
straight. 

Trust Fund Accounts. Trust Fund accounts are subscription ac- 
counts paid in advance at the main office of The News by regular sub- 
scribers, who do not want to be annoyed by carriers who make too fre- 
quent collections. Such people want to pay annually or semiannually 
for convenience. Payments by subscribers in this way are held in trust 
for the carrier and may be collected at The News office every four 
weeks, the same as if collection were made from the subscriber direct. 

Quite frequently subscribers pay a few weeks in advance, in which 
event notice is sent to the carrier to call at his Substation or The News' 
main office for amount received. Subscribers often call at The News' 
office to order their paper stopped, and pay what they owe. Such pay- 
ments are accepted and turned over to the proper carrier. 

Whenever carriers are notified that collections for subscriptions are 
to be made at The News' office, they must not annoy such subscribers by 
calling upon them to collect. The amount due will be paid out of the 
subscribers' account at The News' office, carrier giving proper receipt. 

Complaints. Whenever a subscriber complains of irregular, late, or 
the non-delivery of The News, a " complaint slip " will be sent to the 
Substation, a copy of which is retained at our office, a copy is sent to 
the carrier, and a third copy to the Station Manager. All complaints 
will be posted on the bulletin board. The boy delivering such subscrip- 
tion must acknowledge the order and give it his immediate attention. 
The Station Manager will verify such order by calling on the subscriber 
to ascertain what action has been taken by the carrier, and if no improve- 
ment is made in the delivery, such subscriber will be turned over to 
another carrier. Too many complaints of similar nature will cause the 
expulsion of carrier from the Association. Always ascertain the griev- 
ance the subscriber may have and remedy such matters at once. When- 
ever a paper is stopped on account of non-payment, the subscriber should 
be notified of its discontinuance. Never sell copies of The News on the 
street to transients unless you have extra copies. Subscribers' copies 
should in no case be sold and the subscriber missed. It may cause you 
to lose such subscriber permanently and possibly your route. 

Stops. Whenever a subscriber stops taking The News, either 
through an order to the carrier direct or through the main office, it 
should be stopped according to instruction. All orders from the main 
office will be posted on the bulletin board the same as " complaints " and 
carriers must give such orders their prompt attention under penalty of 



266 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

losing pay for the papers left after order was issued to stop it. The 
reason subscribers give for stopping should be given on the carrier slip 
each day so that the Station Manager may investigate, and the main 
office of The News may be fully informed from time to time as to the 
cause. Quite frequently the management is able to apply a remedy, 
especially when there are complaints as to the policy of the paper, its 
contents, delivery, or anything that might involve the retention of such 
persons as subscribers. 

Missed Papers. Whenever a carrier fails to deliver The News to 
a regular subscriber and it is found necessary for the main office to 
make such delivery later, the regular carrier will be assessed the amount 
paid out for a special messenger. The News will not undertake to 
make deliveries of this kind except when absolutely necessary. 

The News will always advise subscribers over the phone to deduct 
from their subscription payment, for missed papers, therefore it be- 
hooves the carrier to be careful and see that his papers are delivered 
regularly. Every carrier should be in the business for profit, and should 
avoid losses through carelessness. 

Subscribers' Names and Addresses. At the discretion of The In- 
dianapolis News a complete list of subscribers must be furnished by 
the carrier. Such list must be filled out completely and accurately in 
ink, giving the name and address of every subscriber and as near as 
possible the order in which papers are delivered. In flat buildings or 
tenement houses the number of the flat or floor must be given. The 
names and addresses must be furnished complete. Any boy failing to 
comply with this rule after proper notice will be expelled. 

General Instructions. It must be positively understood by carriers 
that they have no interest in the list of subscribers on their route — 
that they only act as distributers for The Indianapolis News and that 
their compensation for such service is limited to the profit growing out 
of the difference between what they pay for their papers and the amount 
collected from The Indianapolis News' subscribers. Subscribers sold by 
one carrier to another with the consent of The Indianapolis News are 
to be transferred only under this condition. Any carrier wishing to 
give up his route and stop acting as carrier for The Indianapolis News 
must give the Station Manager at least ten (10) days' notice and deliver 
all lists and names of subscribers together with their addresses and full 
instructions as to places of delivery of The Indianapolis News before 
he stops regular delivery. Said lists and other information are to be 
turned over to any authorized representative of The News or to his. 
(carrier's) successor, who must first be approved of by the Station 
Manager. 

No member of this Association will be allowed to deliver copies of 
any other daily newspaper published in Indianapolis or have any inter- 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 267 

est in any route owned by any such other newspaper or carrier thereof. 
Carriers must buy all their papers at their regular supply station, and 
will not be allowed to buy papers at any other place, unless extra copies 
are required en route to complete delivery to all regular subscribers. 

Carriers are not allowed to distribute circulars, or other advertising 
matter in any form, with copies of The News without authority from 
the Manager of Circulation, Business Manager, or General Manager. 
No other person has the ' authority to order the distribution of such 
matter by carriers. There is but one exception to this rule and that 
refers to notices or other printed matter put out by The News in con- 
nection with its own business. 

Form 35. Rules and Regulations for District Men — Indianapolis News. 



1. — You are expected to report promptly for regular duty according 
to the hours prescribed by the management from time to time and for 
extra duty whenever it is necessary in the opinion of your superiors. 
You are furthermore expected to keep in touch with headquarters by 
telephone at frequent intervals during the day and not leave your work 
for the day without first reporting " off duty." 

2. — You are expected to appear for duty neatly dressed, commensu- 
rate with your means ; keep yourself clean shaven and free from the 
odor of " tough old " pipes and cigarettes. 

3. — No smoking is allowed while on duty. Tobacco in any other 
form is objectionable and should be avoided. Your duty brings you in 
contact with many ladies and your business should be transacted as a 
gentleman. Be brief and polite. 

4. — You are expected to furnish bond for the honest and faithful 
performance of your duties in such sum as may be required. 

5. — Our business must be transacted thoroughly and must be held 
strictly confidential. Reports, criticisms, and suggestions are to be made 
only to your superiors. Discussions with other employees or outsiders 
as to the policy of The News should be avoided. 

6. — Do not criticize or find fault with your competitor. Every knock 
is a boost. Argue only in behalf of your own paper and not against the 
other. The public quickly forms its own opinion of the " other fellow " 
when your superior qualities are presented. Avoid talking on subjects 
you know nothing about. Do not exaggerate or magnify facts. Stick to 
the truth — it will serve your purpose best. 

7. — Do not be afraid to ask questions — there is no man who knows 
it all. Do not be afraid of being criticized or reprimanded for making 
mistakes. You will learn to avoid them thereafter. If you blundered, 
admit it — do not cover it up or try to blame some one else. 



268 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

8. — Do not labor under the impression that your path may be strewn 
with roses, your progress made a grand triumphal march, that you will 
be received everywhere with acclamations of joy and that readers of 
every age and degree will bow before you in humble supplication. You 
will be sorely disappointed in your " dreams." 

9. — Your Manager can give general instructions and support, but the 
execution of the work beyond this, is something for which you are 
responsible. 

10. — Your merit is measured by absolute facts and figures. No 
matter what the conditions, how difficult the task, or how earnest you 
are, results only are considered. 

11. — It is your duty before leaving the office to become thoroughly 
informed of everything relating to your work. You should feel that 
upon yourself alone depends the work of preparation. Many men go 
out on their trips half ready, having relied upon some one else to supply 
them with ideas. 

12. — A man who is continually making mistakes, causes both his 
paper and himself an endless amount of trouble. Once out in your dis- 
trict you absolutely " stand on your own bottom." You must be in a 
position to act independently, promptly, and correctly. 

13. — Your genius is displayed by the excellence of your work — not 
by sitting around mourning over what might have been. In this day 
and age no man is restricted to the employment of one method of ac- 
complishing things. You are surrounded by an exhaustless ocean of 
ideas. You have only to draw as you need, unhindered, limited only 
by your power of diligence. Some men never have " ideas " of their 
own for advancing business. They can usually " tell " when the other 
fellow is wrong but cannot find or suggest a practical remedy. The 
ideas that employers want are the practical ideas that show results. A 
man who will take time to do a little real " thinking " and planning will 
produce better results than the man who works like an automaton. 

14. — When a man enters the employ of a newspaper it is expected 
that he will make all honorable efforts to secure business, and that he 
will earnestly endeavor to advance the interests of his paper by the use 
of his intelligence. 

15. — Never start out until you know all about what you are to do. 
If the Manager does not tell you everything, make it your business to 
find out some way. 

16. — ' If you have ideas that you wish to submit, put them on paper 
so that they can be understood, and await developments. If every sug- 
gestion you make is not accepted do not get ruffled. If one " idea " in 
ten goes through, it's above the average — try again. 

17. — Never blame another man for your ignorance ; never apologize 
or explain when you fail to do certain things ; explanations do not bring 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 269 

circulation. Never take it for granted that we understand your orders 
written " any old way." 

18. — Always take time to read all circulars, letters, and bulletins. 
An hour taken up in this way means ten hours gained when you get 
started. 

19. — There are one hundred thousand ways of getting circulation of 
which we know, but there are one million ways yet to be discovered. Do 
not be afraid of losing your job; the very fear of it will lessen your 
ability and then you will lose it. There is always work and tools to 
work with for those who will. 

20. — If you are not succeeding well in canvassing, be careful not to 
show it in appearance or words. You must always create the impres- 
sion that your business is booming, whether it is or not, for if people 
see that you are not succeeding, they will attribute it to lack of merit 
in your paper or want of energy on your part. There are dull periods 
in every business and you must expect them. But you will find upon 
investigation that your " dull days " are due principally to lack of faith 
and enthusiasm on your part. You generally accomplish what you think 
you can and if you will go to work every day believing that you can 
succeed, success will be sure to come. If one person does not order the 
paper, there are others who will, so you can afford to hold up your 
head and feel that you are bound to do well. Never get discouraged 
because persons tell you that people in any particular neighborhood are 
" not a reading people." You will frequently meet with the best success 
in communities where total failure has been predicted by persons who 
thought they knew. 

21. — No matter how much experience you have had, don't fail to 
study The News thoroughly each day. District men often fail just be- 
cause they are over-confident and are not willing to qualify themselves. 
You must remember that strangers know nothing, or very little, about 
The News, and they of course, may not take to it. The person never 
lived who wanted to take a paper before somebody interested him in it. 
Nothing will make people want to take our paper quicker than your 
description of it, and you must be so familiar with it yourself, that you 
can describe it in such a manner as to create an interest in the minds 
of others. Your experience as you progress will give you new ideas and 
you must use them in the most effective manner. 

22. — Adhere strictly to your instructions. In the absence of instruc- 
tions in any matter whatsoever, follow the dictates of your best judg- 
ment. Your entire time must be devoted to the interest of The News 
while you are in our employ. 

23. — Read the rules and regulations prescribed for The News' Asso- 
ciation of Carriers ; they have been adopted after careful consideration 
and should govern in all cases where your work is involved. 



270 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

24. — You are expected to visit all the news-stands in your territory at 
least once every week, and all substations at least twice a week. 

25. — You are held responsible for the circulation, collections, and 
general results in your territory, and consequently have the authority to 
conduct the business in your own way as long as it does not conflict 
with our rules or the general policy of the paper. 

26. — If you conduct one of our substations, you are expected to 
report there not later than 3 p.m. and remain until you are released at 
night through the main office : 5 130 p.m. is the time you are to report 
" off duty " excepting during the Baseball Season, or other special oc- 
casions requiring your presence later than that hour. 

27. — Collections of all news-stands and substations are to be made 
every Tuesday, unless otherwise ordered. No credit is to be allowed on 
any bill for something you know nothing about ; balances should not be 
allowed to accumulate, and all unsold papers must be taken up. You 
have no authority to leave " Returns " with any dealer after having 
credited them to his account. 

28. — No smoking is allowed in the office between October 1 and 
April 15. No smoking will be allowed at meetings of district men at 
any time during the year, or at substations during office hours. 

29. — Our own substations must be kept clean and in a sanitary con- 
dition. Our janitor is expected to look after matters of this kind, but 
every assistance should be rendered by you and your carriers to make 
his work as light as possible. No alterations to substation building or 
fixtures are to be made, supplies purchased, or other expenses incurred, 
without authority from your superior. 

30. — You are held responsible for all papers sent to your Station, and 
credit is not to be extended to carriers or newsboys. Advance pay- 
ments made by carriers must not be kept in your possession, but must 
be turned into the office, to be held in trust for such carriers from day 
to day. You are expected to see that all our rules in reference to car- 
riers are obeyed as far as your territory and station are concerned. 

31. — You are expected to carry a copy of these rules and regulations 
with you at all times and study them thoroughly. 

32. — ■ All changes in these rules will be announced in bulletins which 
you will keep for reference. 

33. — Read this every night before going to bed : Have you done all 
you could do to increase The News' business? Is your conscience clear 
on your day's work? Do you feel at all doubtful of what you have 
done, or what you have left undone? Is the work you did that day in 
the best possible condition? 

If you have done your best, neglected nothing that you could do, it's 
a guarantee that your work will be satisfactory to The News. 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 271 

Form 36. Application for Membership — Indianapolis News Associa- 
tion of Carriers. 



The Indianapolis News Association of Carriers 
Application for Membership 

To The Indianapolis News : 

I hereby apply for membership in The Indianapolis News Association 
of Carriers, and if accepted, this application being properly signed by 
myself, parent or guardian, shall be construed as an agreement in force 
and effect with your Association as long as I shall remain a member 
in good standing. I agree to abide by the following rules and such 
other conditions as may be required of me from time to time. 

My purpose in applying for membership in your Association is to 
become a carrier of The Indianapolis News with the privilege of acquir- 
ing a list of subscribers of The Indianapolis News by purchase or 
through the efforts of myself and friends, thereby becoming the owner 
of a News Route in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. 

1 — I agree at all times to devote my earnest endeavors to advance 
the circulation of The Indianapolis News in the territory I cover and 
will not sell any other newspaper published in Indianapolis daily or 
Sunday without the written consent of The Indianapolis News. 

2 — I agree that I will not solicit among people who are already 
regular subscribers of The Indianapolis News through some other car- 
rier, but that I will confine my efforts for new business exclusively to 
nonreaders of The Indianapolis News. 

3 — I agree that if at any time the number of my subscribers exceeds 
seventy-five (75), I will employ a helper or assistant to deliver part of 
my route or will agree to dispose of all the customers that I am not 
able to deliver myself within the time prescribed in Clause 7. 

4 — I agree to sell The Indianapolis News at 2 cents per copy; and 
to regular customers at the rate of 10 cents per week until otherwise 
ordered. 

5 — If I violate any rule of your Association or fail in fulfilling my 
duties as a carrier, you have the right to expel me as a member with- 
out notice, and may dispose of my route at the best obtainable price 
under the circumstances. 

6 — I agree that I shall give you at least ten (10) days' notice should 
I wish to resign as a member of your Association and as a carrier, with 
the understanding that if I originally bought or otherwise invested in 
my route that I be given the privilege of disposing of my list of sub- 
scribers to some person who must first be approved by you, the average 
price per subscriber not to exceed the amount paid by me when I orig- 



27Z SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

inally secured them. I agree that if no purchaser approved by you can 
be found within ten days from the date I notify you that I wish to re- 
sign, to give you the privilege of disposing of my route at the best price 
obtainable. 

7 — I will buy The Indianapolis News at such supply- station as you 
may designate, convenient to the route and at no other place and agree 
to pay for the papers each day at your regular rate to newsboys or 
carriers and will arrange the delivery of the route I cover so that no 
subscriber will receive his paper later than 5:15 p.m., excepting in such 
cases when it becomes a physical impossibility to accomplish this ; fur- 
thermore, I will report at substation for my papers not later than 
3 :4S p.m. 

8 — I agree to give The Indianapolis News a list of all the sub- 
scribers and customers to whom I deliver the paper with their addresses, 
and to furnish such list from time to time as changes shall occur or as 
The Indianapolis News shall require. I will not furnish their names 
or addresses to any other person without the consent of The Indian- 
apolis News. 

9 — I will at all times have a substitute able to carry the route I 
cover in case I am for any reason unable to carry it, such substitute to 
be governed by the rules of your Association, the same as myself. • 

10 — I understand that in distributing The Indianapolis News along 
said route, I am acting as a carrier in the employ of The Indianapolis 
News, and that my compensation for that service is limited to the profit 
growing out of the difference between what I am to pay for the papers 
which I deliver and the amount which I collect from The Indianapolis 
News subscribers therefor. 

11 — I further agree always to conduct myself in a polite and gen- 
tlemanly manner for the general welfare of your Association and The 
Indianapolis News. 

Signature of Applicant 

Age Date 

Home Address 

I understand the necessity of the above requirements and will en- 
deavor to see that they are fulfilled. 

Signature of Parent or Guardian 

The above application is approved and applicant is hereby accepted 
as a member of The News Association of Carriers, and as a carrier of 
The Indianapolis News. 

The Indianapolis News 



Representing the Publisher 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 273 

Form 2,7- Constitution and By-laws — Indianapolis News Benefit Asso- 
ciation. 



Constitution and By-Laws 

Constitution 

Name of Organization 
Section 1. This Society shall be known as " The Indianapolis News 
Benefit Association." It is formed for the purpose of creating a fund 
to be used for the relief of its members in case of sickness or disability. 
Its membership shall be confined to those who are regular employees 
of The Indianapolis News, excepting those who are members of some 
other similar benefit association conducted by Indianapolis News' em- 
ployees. 

Officers 
Sec. 2. The officers of this Association shall consist of a President, 
Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and a board of three directors. 
The officers shall be elected annually, and a plurality vote shall elect. 
They shall hold office until their successors are elected and installed. 

President 
Sec. 3. The President shall preside at meetings of the Association 
and Board of Directors when present ; shall countersign all warrants on 
the Treasurer, and perform all duties pertaining to the President, and 
shall, at any time, call a meeting of the Association upon the written 
application of seven members. He shall appoint a member from each 
department, who shall collect, weekly, the dues from all members of the 
Association in his department, and who shall on Saturday of each week, 
turn the collections over to the Secretary. 

Vice-President 
Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the Vice-President to attend meetings 
of the Association and Board of Directors, and preside in the absence 
of the President, assuming all his powers and duties. 

Secretary 
Sec. 5. The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the Association 
and Board of Directors, and shall be entitled to a vote on all questions 
before the Board of Directors. He shall receive all initiation fees and 



274 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

dues and keep a just and true account of the same; pay them over to 
the Treasurer on Monday of each week, taking his receipt therefor. He 
shall issue all warrants on the Treasurer in payment of money, and shall 
perform such other duties pertaining to the office as the Association may 
direct. His compensation shall be fifty cents a week. 

Treasurer 
Sec. 6. The Treasurer shall receive all funds from the Secretary, 
giving his receipt therefor, and deposit the same weekly, or as soon as 
received, if practicable, in a bank, which shall be selected by the Board 
of Directors. He shall pay all drafts ordered by the Association or 
Board of Directors, and signed by the President and Secretary ; shall 
have in charge the bank book of the Association, and keep a correct ac- 
count of all receipts and disbursements, and at no time shall he retain 
more than $50 in hand. Whenever required, the Treasurer shall produce 
the bank book of the Association for the inspection of the members, and 
shall not, at any time be allowed to draw money from the bank without 
the signatures of the President and Secretary. 

Board of Directors 
Sec. 7. The Board of Directors shall have general supervision of the 
good and welfare of the Association ; they shall act as a committee on 
membership to whom all applications for membership shall be referred, 
and they shall report to the Association whatever facts they may deem 
pertinent in connection with such application, reporting favorably or 
unfavorably on each applicant. Each candidate for membership shall be 
voted by the Association by ballot, and a majority of votes shall elect. 
To the Board of Directors shall be referred all applications for relief of 
members, and they shall report their action in writing in such cases to 
the Association at the next regular or called meeting. They shall ascer- 
tain the condition of each applicant for relief under the provisions of 
the Constitution and By-Laws. They shall hold meetings at the call of 
the President whenever the business of the Association may require, for 
the relief of the sick and other causes. 

The Physician 
Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the Physician, designated by the Board 
of Directors, to make all calls as ordered by the President, and his com- 
pensation shall not be more than $1.00 for each visit ordered. 

Visiting Committee 
Sec. 9. A Visiting Committee shall be appointed by the President in 
each case of sickness reported to him ; said committee shall consist of 
three members, no two of whom shall be employed in the same depart- 
ment as the beneficiary. Said committee shall report its findings in 






RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 275 

writing to the President within two days after appointment, and the 
President shall submit the report to the Board of Directors, and the 
Board of Directors, if satisfied with all the facts in the oase, may order 
the Treasurer to pay the benefit. Said Visiting Committee shall receive 
transportation for each visit. The Visiting Committee, after its first 
visit, shall visit as directed by the President. Any members failing to 
perform their duties shall be fined fifty cents. 

Finance Committee 
Sec. 10. The President shall appoint a Finance Committee, consist- 
ing of three members, whose duty it shall be to make a thorough 
examination of the accounts of the Secretary and Treasurer at least 
once in three months, and oftener if directed by the President or the 
Association ; and they shall make a full report in writing to the 
Association at its next regular or called meeting. 

Election of Officers 

Sec. 11. The annual election of officers shall be held on the first 
Monday in August of each year, and the officers then elected shall take 
office at once. If from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in any office, 
such vacancy may be filled at any special or regular meeting of the 
Association. 

Election shall be by ballot. 

The President shall appoint an election committee of three, who 
shall provide a ballot-box. A list of all members in good standing shall 
be kept by the committee and, on a member voting, his name shall be 
canceled. During the casting of the ballots, the ballot-box shall be kept 
securely locked, nor shall the committee give any information as to the 
progress of the voting. 

Upon closing the polls the election committee shall at once proceed 
to count the ballots, and shall certify the same to the President, who 
shall announce the result. 

Absence of Officers 
Sec. 12. Any officer failing to attend two consecutive meetings of 
the Association, his office shall be declared vacant by the Board of 
Directors, and a successor shall be elected at the next regular or called 
meeting, unless such officer furnish a reasonable excuse for not at- 
tending. 

Retaining Membership 
Sec. 13. Any member leaving the employ of The Indianapolis News 
shall forfeit his membership in this Association, and all claims of 



276 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

whatever kind against the Association, except as provided in the Con- 
stitution and By-Laws. 

Appropriation of Funds 
Sec. 14. No portion of the funds of this Association shall be ap- 
propriated for any purpose whatever, other than provided for in the 
Constitution and By-Laws, and no member hereof shall receive a larger 
benefit than is fixed herein. 

Dissolution 
Sec. 15. This Association can only be dissolved by a vote of three- 
fourths of the members in good standing, and all funds in hands and 
in bank at the time of the dissolution shall be divided among the con- 
tributing members upon the Association's rolls at such time, in propor- 
tion as they have contributed to the same. 

Amendments 
Sec. 16. Amendments to the Constitution may be made at any 
regular or called meeting of the Association upon a two-thirds vote 
of the Association; and amendments to the By-Laws upon a majority 
vote of all members present. 

Quorum 
Sec. 17. Ten members shall constitute a quorum for any regular or 
called meeting of the Association. 

Withdrawal of Funds 
Sec. 18. No member hereof shall be entitled to demand the return 
of any money he may have paid into the treasury of this Association, 
except as provided for in the Constitution and By-Laws, and his 
signature hereto shall be a testament of agreement thereto. 

Running Expenses 
Sec. 19. For the running expenses of this Association, orders shall 
be drawn by the Secretary on the Treasurer and paid from the funds 
of the Association. 

Signing the Constitution 
Sec. 20. Each member shall be required to sign a book kept by the 
Secretary, containing the Constitution and By-Laws, and shall then 
become a member in good standing, entitled to all reliefs, benefits 
and privileges of this Association, subject to the rules of the same. 






RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 277 

By-laws 

Initiation Fee 
Section 1. All members entering this Association shall pay an initia- 
tion fee of fifty cents. 

Arrears 
Sec. 2. Any member failing to pay his dues for two consecutive 
weeks shall be dropped from the rolls of the Association, and forfeit 
all claims of whatever kind against the Association. 

Sick Benefit Plan 

Sec. 3. The benefit plan of this Association shall be as follows, 
the amounts to be paid weekly when sick or disabled : 

Class A — Members paying 5 cents a week shall receive $3 a week. 

Class B — Members paying 10 cents a week shall receive $6 a week. 

Class C — Members paying 15 cents a week shall receive $9 a week. 

Class D — Members paying 20 cents a week shall receive $12 a week. 

Six working days shall make a week as per Monday to Saturday, 
and for any sickness over one week, benefits shall be paid at the rate 
of $2 a day for each working day. 

No member shall be entitled to a sick benefit until he shall have 
been a member of the Association for two weeks. 

No member shall receive benefits for more than eight consecutive 
weeks, nor more than ten weeks in one fiscal year. 

No member shall be allowed to change from a lower to a higher 
rate of benefit during sickness, nor at any other time without the 
consent of the Association. 

No member shall be entitled to benefits whose sickness is the direct 
result of debauchery or immoral practices. 

If, for any reason, there shall at any time be insufficient funds on 
hand to pay benefits, as provided in the Constitution and By-Laws, 
sick members shall be paid pro rata the amount of weekly collections, 
and all such delinquencies shall be paid to such beneficiary out of the 
first moneys available. 

The Board of Directors shall designate a physician, who shall visit 
all cases of sickness when ordered by the President, and the report 
of such physician shall be submitted, together with the report of the 
Visiting Committee, to the Board of Directors. 

Sick benefits date from the time the Secretary is notified, and he 
shall report the same to the President at once. 

Members must attend to the payment of their dues, and the Asso- 
ciation, neither through its Secretary nor members appointed for col- 
lection of dues, is liable when such remain unpaid and a member 
becomes delinquent. 



278 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

All members and applicants for membership in the Association may 
join any class stated in the By-Laws, provided they pay the full amount 
of dues required. 

Withdrawals 

Sec. 4. Any member leaving the city permanently or otherwise with- 
drawing from this Association shall have no claim upon the Associa- 
tion. 

Any member can be expelled from this Association upon the proving 
of written charges preferred to the President by any member of the 
Association, said charges to be referred to a committee of five, to be 
appointed by the President, the accused having a right to appear before 
said committee. 

Said committee shall make its report in writing to any special or 
regular meeting of the Association and action of the Association shall 
be final. 

Any member expelled for any cause shall have no claim upon the 
Association. 

Dividends 

Sec. 5. The Board of Directors shall (unless deemed inexpedient) 
each year, between the 1st and 10th of December, declare a dividend of 
all moneys in the treasury over $1.25 per share Class A, $2.50 per 
share Class B, $3.75 per share class C, $5.00 per share Class D, which 
amount shall at all times remain in the possession of the Association : 
Provided, That the said sums above provided for shall be retained from 
the first dividend to which a member is entitled. 

Upon a member leaving the employ of The Indianapolis News, the 
Treasurer shall, upon an order of the Board of Directors, pay to the 
member leaving a sum equal to $1.25 per share Class A, $2.50 per share 
Class B, $3.75 per share Class C, $5.00 per share Class D: Provided, 
That no such order shall be issued unless there is in the Treasury 
of the Association a sum sufficient to pay the full value of all outstanding 
stock. 

A member leaving the employ of The Indianapolis News before the 
1st of December forfeits all claims to participation in a dividend. 

Dividends shall be declared pro rata. 



RULES AND ASSOCIATION FORMS 279 



Indianapolis News Benefit Association 



NOTE — Any member having a claim against the association 
must fill out this blank and hand it to the attending physician 
for his answers and signature. Claim must be filed with the 
secretary or other officer of the association without unneces- 
sary delay. 



Date. . .. = 

I an employe of The Indianapolis 

News and a member of The Indianapolis News Benefit Association, was 

(.taken ill on) (injured) 19. . . at o'clock, and 

quit work on , 19 . . . at o'clock. 

For the purpose of applying for such benefits as I may be entitled 
to from the association, I .hereby warrant to be true my answers to the 
questions below: 

1 — When did physician first attend you ? 

2— Where? 

3 — What was the disease (or injury) ? (Describe symptoms briefly 
or name parts of body affected) : 

4 — How long were you confined to your bed or room wholly unable 

to perform your duties ? 

5 — Give your physician's name and address , 



See other side for physician's statement. Street Address. 



Form 38. Benefit Application — Indianapolis News Benefit Association. 
Size, 6x8 1 / £ inches. 



V. DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 

Form 39. Instructions to Solicitors — Indianapolis News. 1 

Introduction 
Uniformity of Methods Important to our Business 
In order that uniform methods be adopted by all of our men the 
following instructions are issued and they form part of the agree- 
ment under which you are employed ; also to avoid disputes and un- 
necessary correspondence, we request you to study these instructions 
carefully. 

Changes of Instructions 
These instructions are subject to revision or amendment, as circum- 
stances or conditions may require, but in all cases of such change a 
written addenda will be furnished. 

Three Great Requisites 
Before starting be sure that you knozu your business thoroughly. 
When zvorking be self-reliant, enthusiastic and tactful. 
When through, close your business in such a way as to leave a pleas- 
ant impression, whether you do or do not get an order. 

The Indianapolis News — Its Policy 

The policy of The Indianapolis News is absolutely independent. It 
wears the collar of no political party. In its independence lies its 
strength. It publishes without fear, favor or prejudice, a full and 
truthful account of all political events. 

The News champions the rights of the people. Its editorials 
receive the strongest commendations from pulpit and press — even from 
its local contemporaries. 

The News has a reason for every opinion it expresses, and absolutely 
accepts no patronage from any party. No employee of The News is 
allowed to hold a political position. 

In short, it is a newspaper, not an organ, and has ever been on 
the 1 side of The People, with no friends to favor, and no enemies 
to punish. 

1 Compiled by J. M. Sclimid of The Indianapolis News. Book No. 1; in effect 
January 1, 1913. 

280 






DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 281 

The Indianapolis News stands at the head of all Indiana newspapers ; 
in fact, there are few if any, that are its equal in the entire Middle 
States. 

Nearly a half million people read it every day. 

It is probably the largest newspaper — Sunday newspapers excepted 
— in the United States, varying in size from 18 to 32 pages daily. Cost, 
two cents per copy, ten cents per week, forty-five cents per month de- 
livered. It is a newspaper "bargain." 

A Little " Horse-Sense " 

The solicitor who labors under the impression that his path may 
be strewn with roses, his progress made a grand triumphal march, 
that he will be received everywhere with acclamations of joy, readers 
of every age and degree bowing down before him in humble supplica- 
tion, will be sorely disappointed in his " dreams." 

The Circulation Manager can give general instructions and support, 
the execution of the work beyond this is something for which the 
Solicitor alone is responsible. 

The merit of the Solicitor is measured by results. No matter what 
the conditions, how difficult the task or how earnest the worker, results 
only are considered. 

It is the duty of the Solicitor before starting out to become thor- 
oughly acquainted with his work. 

A man who is continually making mistakes causes both his paper 
and himself an endless amount of trouble. 

Once out upon the road a Solicitor absolutely " stands on his own 
bottom." He must be in a position to act independently and with the 
best judgment. 

His genius is displayed by the excellence of his work, not by sitting 
around mourning over what might have been. 

Ideas Move the World 

In this day and age no Solicitor is restricted to the employment of 
one method of accomplishing things. He is surrounded by an exhaust- 
less ocean of ideas. He has only to draw as he needs, unhindered, 
limited only by his power of diligence. Ideas move the world. 

Some Solicitors never seem to have " ideas " of their own for ad- 
vancing business ; they have " ideas " in abundance of the kind that 
retard business, however. They can always " tell " when the other fel- 
low is " wrong," but can not find or suggest a practical remedy. 

The ideas that employers want are practical ideas, the ideas that 
show results. 

A Solicitor who will take time to do a little real "thinking" and 
planning will produce better results than the man who works like an 
automaton. 



282 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

When a man enters the employ of a newspaper, it is expected that 
he will make all honorable efforts to secure business and that he will 
earnestly endeavor to advance the interests of his paper by the use of 
his intelligence. 

He must never start out on the road until he knows all about 
what he is to do. If the Circulation Manager doesn't tell him every- 
thing, he should make it his business to learn somehow. 

If he has some good ideas that he wishes to submit, they should be 
put on paper so that they can be understood, sent in and await de- 
velopments. If the circulator does not accept every suggestion he makes 
he should not get ruffled. If one " idea " in ten goes through, it's above 
the average — let him try again. 

Shoulder Your Own Mistakes 

A man should never blame another for his mistakes ; never apologize 
nor explain when he fails to do certain things ; explanations do not 
bring circulation. He should never take it for granted that orders 
written " any old way " will be understood. 

Time should always be taken to read any and all circulars and letters 
received. An hour taken up. in this way means ten hours gained later. 

There are one hundred thousand known ways of getting circulation, 
but there are one million ways yet to be discovered. The man who is 
always afraid of losing his job will lessen his ability through fear and 
then he will lose it. There is always work and tools to work with 
for those who will. 

Have Faith in Yourself 

A man who is not succeeding well in canvassing should be careful 
not to show it in appearance or words. He must always create the 
impression that his business is booming, whether it is or not, for if 
people see that he is not succeeding they will attribute it to lack of 
merit in his paper or want of energy on his part. There are dull 
periods in every business, and every man must expect them. But he 
will find on investigation that his " dull days " are due principally to lack 
of faith and enthusiasm on his part. We generally accomplish what 
we think we can, and if he will go to work every day, believing that 
he can succeed, success will be sure to come. If one man does not 
order the paper, there are others who will so that he can afford to hold 
up his head and feel that he is bound to do well. 

He should never become discouraged because persons tell him that 
people in any particular neighborhood are " not a reading people." He 
will frequently meet with the best success in communities where total 
failure has been predicted by persons who thought they knew. 



DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 283 

Study the Paper 
No matter how much experience a man has had he should not fail 
to thoroughly study The News daily. Solicitors often fail because they 
are over-confident, and are not willing to qualify themselves. They must 
remember that the people know nothing, or only very little, about a 
paper, and they, of course, do not want to take it. The person never 
lived who wanted to take a paper before somebody interested him in it. 
Nothing will make people want to take a paper but a description of it, 
and a Solicitor must be so familiar with it that he can describe it 
in such a manner as to create an interest in the minds of others. His 
experience as he progresses will give him new ideas and he must use 
them in the most effective manner. 

General Instructions 
Routing of Papers 

Ascertain whether The News arrives on time, or whether a better 
dispatch could be suggested. If you have any complaints from agents 
or subscribers on account of delayed papers, get exact dates of non- 
arrival and write on a separate sheet from Daily Report, so same may 
be sent to the Post-Office Department. 

Be careful to learn what our competitors are doing. Your object 
should be to increase The News' circulation at the expense of our com- 
petitors. Get as many of their subscribers in a legitimate way as 
possible. 

About Your Mail and Office Reports 

All stubs and mileage book covers should be returned to us as soon 
as you are through with them and an accurate account kept of mileage 
used. 

Write letters to us daily, giving detailed account of conditions on 
routes in towns you visit. 

Send your weekly reports promptly at the end of every week. 
Report in space provided, work done from day to day. 

Acknowledge the receipt of all letters, money and instructions sent 
you. 

Always give advance-directions where mail and samples will reach 
you. 

Upon arriving a town, call at the Post-Office and Telegraph Office 
for mail or telegrams. Upon leaving a town, leave your forwarding 
address at the same places. This is important, mail addressed to you 
will then always reach you. 

You must not deviate from your route or return home without 
permission. 



284 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

Your entire time must be devoted to the interest of The News, 
while you are in our employ. 

Aim to Be on Pleasant Terms with Everyone 
There are many irritable people, and you will not fail to meet some 
of them, but do not lose your temper. If, after having used every effort, 
you fail, be careful to leave just as pleasant an impression as when 
you came. Try to make such an impression upon your hearer that 
he will be glad to see you again. On your first visit you will learn 
something of his tastes and peculiarities, and can make a note of them 
for future reference. The next time the order will come all the easier 
because of your first visit. 

Rural Mail Carriers and Postmasters 
Frequently we receive reports from solicitors that certain rural mail 
carriers or postmasters are unfriendly to The News. Whenever you 
find such a condition you should make it your business to learn the 
reason. 

You know that the Post-Office regulations do not permit discrimina- 
tion against any particular newspaper, and violators of that law run 
the risk of having charges filed against them. 

Perhaps you can straighten matters out to our satisfaction while 
on the ground, if not, we will take the matter up ourselves if you 
will give us the full information. We need their co-operation; it 
will help business. 

As to Your Identity 
You will frequently hear your prospect say : " I don't know you ; 
you may not be authorized to collect money." When this objection is 
offered show your credentials and printed matter and say : " If from 
these you are not entirely satisfied of my authority to collect the money, 
you can give me a check or money order, made payable to The Indian- 
apolis News. That will be perfectly safe, for nobody but the publishers 
can use it." If the person does not actually offer this objection, but you 
judge that he is thinking of it, say: "If you prefer you can pay me 
with a check made payable to our Company," or offer to pay for a 
telephone message to our agent in town or to the postmaster, with 
whom arrangements for identification should be made in advance. 

Don't Rob Peter to Pay Paul 

Never accept subscriptions from people who are already readers of 

The News, through an agent, carrier or newsboy. Don't solicit among 

people who live in towns where we have delivery service; the business 

of our agents must not be interfered with ; confine your efforts to 



DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 285 

rural routes, and other remote localities where The News can only be 
obtained by mail. 

Keep Posted 

Keep yourself thoroughly posted on our various offers to subscribers 
and adhere to those offers to the letter; don't deviate from our propo- 
sitions in the least, or you might be charged with discrimination by 
other subscribers and " prospects " whose orders you had previously 
solicited. 

About Sample Copies 

See that your " sample copies " are judiciously used, and not wasted; 
have them forwarded from place to place as you go ; don't allow them 
to remain " unclaimed " at any post-office. 

Livery 

If you don't own your " rig " and hire from a liveryman, make a 
just and fair contract for its use. One dollar and fifty cents per day 
is all that should be paid, and you shall not pay more, unless there is 
positively no other way to get over the routes. Where liverymen have 
combined to maintain a higher price, try and secure a private convey- 
ance or drive the routes from some nearby town where livery may be 
secured at a lower rate. Don't pay any " hitch-in " fees ; as a rule, 
feed for the horse will be furnished by liverymen without extra charge. 
During the winter months blanket your horse whenever it is necessary 
and in the summer see that he is fed and watered and not overheated. 
We will not be responsible for damages to horses on account of your 
violating this rule. 

If you own and use a motorcycle, bicycle or other conveyance, you 
will be paid for its use by contract or agreement in addition to your 
salary. 

Stick to the Truth 

Farmers, as a rule, know what is going on, they are better posted 
than a great many people believe, therefore don't tell them that " the 
moon is made of green cheese." Stick to facts about your paper; don't 
misrepresent a single thing in order to gain a subscriber. If our com- 
petitors lie about us, try and convince the party who has been mislead 
of the truth of the point at issue. 

The best argument in your favor is to invite a comparison of The 
News with the papers of our competitors, and in most cases, if you 
know your business, you can show your " prospect " that The News is 
the best newspaper. 

Cater to the Women 

In many instances the women decide what daily paper is to be 
taken, and our experience has taught us that the women usually know 



286 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

what is best for them in the reading matter line; in fact, they are 
more constant readers and keep better posted than the male members of 
their family. " Mrs. Farmer" is just as interested in the technical 
features of the daily paper as is the farmer himself. There is hardly 
a detail of farm work in which she is not vitally interested. She helps 
plan and manage the season's work ; she attends farm institutes and 
participates in the discussion of agricultural topics; she subscribes for 
and reads the farm papers ; she studies agricultural problems and from 
her own experience often contributes technical articles to the farm press. 
Don't ever get the idea into your head that the women of rural 
America are not vitally interested in newspapers. 

We have known of many farmers who have given an order for a 
certain newspaper, and when the matter was taken up with the wife 
for final approval the order was " killed." She was boss of the read- 
ing matter of that house, and her " say " was final. 

The Pessimist 
If there is too much rain, you will often hear the story of a pros- 
pective " crop failure " as an excuse to have you call later, or again 
if there happens to be a " dry spell " you will have a similar wail 
from the short-sighted farmer who is always putting off until to-morrow 
what he should do to-day. Stick to those fellows until you convince 
them that they are wrong and that they need a daily newspaper to 
keep them posted regardless of the times. 

It may be what is termed a " lean " year among the farmers, but 
still you won't find them going hungry nor treking back to their folks 
at home. The farmer may perhaps count his dollars a little more care- 
fully than he did in some of the flush years; he will not buy quite 
so many quarter sections on speculation, but he will deny neither him- 
self nor his family any of the good things of life. He will read 
advertisements all the more carefully in order to make his dollars go 
further. He's the man whose subscription you should get at all haz- 
ards. 

Extending Credit 
There are certain times of the year when the farmer has no money ; 
you may meet him on the road or out in the field and it is not con- 
venient for him to go to the house for money, but still he wants to 
subscribe ; his order should be taken upon his promise to pay within a 
reasonable period, providing you have evidence of his " good faith," or 
know that he is financially responsible. As a rule the farmer will pay 
his just and honest obligations, at least we have found very few 
" dead-beat " farmer subscribers. 



DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 287 

Avoid Political Arguments 

Arguments about politics should be avoided. The News is Indepen- 
dent, as you will note under the head of " Its Policy " at the beginning 
of these instructions. 

Frequently subscribers " get sore " and threaten to quit because 
The News has expressed opinions for or against certain matters with 
which they do not agree, or may be opposed to certain forms of legis- 
lation, proposed laws, etc., and in all such cases you may say that 
The News is honest in every opinion it expresses and assumes its 
attitude on certain questions because it believes it is Right. We have 
no axes to grind, and while we cannot always agree with our readers 
or the public at large we have a clear conscience and try to champion 
the rights of The People. 

Market Reports 

The Market Reports in The News are the best and most accurate 
obtainable. Today's markets are always printed today, but the farmer is 
usually unable to get them until the following morning; that is not our 
fault however, but is due to his inability to get his mail until the next 
day. No metropolitan Newspaper can afford to print " Markets " a day 
late. Markets throughout the United States close about 4 p.m., and it 
would indeed be a poor newspaper that would not print the quotations of 
the day before. Never permit to go unchallenged the statement that the 
Markets in The News are a " day late." 

The market reports and comments of The News have an authoritative 
value, causing them to often be used as a basis by other newspapers 
in all parts of the country. It gives the lastest and most accurate quo- 
tations on grain, vegetables, tobacco, butter, eggs, livestock, poultry, 
produce, merchandise, securities and almost everything of value to its 
readers. 

No person even indirectly interested in any of the above named 
products can afford to be without The News' daily record of prices 
and conditions. 

Press Time of Our State Edition 
Our State Edition is the best newspaper we print, it is the latest 
edition we publish, and consequently has everything we print from the 
first to the last edition of the day and the old " fib " frequently circulated 
by a jealous competitor that our State Edition is an evening edition of 
the day before, with only the date changed, is circulated for the pur- 
pose of misleading the public. Our State Edition is printed from 5 
to 8 hours later than the edition we circulate in Indianapolis, and a 
comparison of the two papers will prove this. Frequently a rural route 
resident will tell you the State Edition is a day late because he saw 



288 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

a certain item in an edition of The News distributed " in town " the 
day before. That may be true, but if we failed to print that particular 
item in his edition, and he heard about it in some other way, he would 
undoubtedly find fault again. We can't be held responsible because he 
came to town and read an earlier edition; what about his neighbor, 
who did not come to town and did not read the item referred to ; would 
we be treating him right by not printing it because the other fellow hap- 
pened to read it somewhere? Certainly not! "Arguments" of that 
kind are therefore no arguments at all. We aim to print all the news, 
that's fit to print and worth printing, all the time and at the earliest 
possible moment, and if a city man is able to read some of the news 
10 or 12 hours before the rural resident reads it, is surely no fault of 
ours. If we were able to change day into night or night into day and 
thereby increase our circulation, you can rest assured that we would be 
on the job. 

Sport News 

Our Sport Page is the most complete published in Indianapolis ; we 
have the best sporting writers obtainable, and print the latest and 
most up-to-date sporting events. 

Our baseball scores are accurate and our State Edition always 
contains the results of games played the day before. 

We publish the box-scores, showing every play made by the home 
and visiting team, together with the result of every game. 

We do not publish box-scores of all games in the American Associa- 
tion or other big leagues, because in our opinion the space required 
for that purpose is too valuable and is only of interest to a small per- 
centage of our readers. 

Type and General Make-Up 

Occasionally you will hear people say that " our print is too fine " 
or " our type is too small." Old people especially may find fault with 
The News on that account. 

It is not a fact that our type is smaller than that used by publishers 
of other daily papers, but is probably due to the manner in which we 
" make-up " our paper ; we do not use as many " leads " or " slugs," or, 
to be more specific, " spaces " between the lines, and it has often been 
a question in our minds whether it is better to give more white space 
or more " reading matter " and we have come to the conclusion that 
the latter is what the public wants. 

People whose sight is affected or who are compelled to read after 
dark, with the aid of poor or insufficient light, are usually the ones who 
complain the most. If we were to double the space between the lines 
of reading matter in our paper it would require about four additional 
pages to take care of the same volume of news matter, or if we would 






DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS 289 

confine ourselves to the same number of pages and increase the white 
space between lines we would give our readers about four pages of 
reading matter less than they now get. We believe that if left to a vote 
of our subscribers they would tell us that they want news items in detail 
and not in an abbreviated form. 

Its Facilities 
The News has one of the finest newspaper plants in the world, with 
every modern mechanical advantage. A staff of reporters cover the 
city and vicinity in an able manner, a field of special writers beginning 
at its very door, reaches out in every direction and covers every portion 
of the globe, there being 700 special representatives in towns and 
hamlets throughout the State and in nearly every large city in the 
United States. It has brilliant writers watching governmental affairs ; 
experts covering sports of all kinds ; the stage and music ; markets and 
financial news ; society, matters of special interest for women, and mas- 
terly editorial writers. In short, a complete picture of the world's 
news events down to the minute is presented. 

Index to Leading Items 
On the first page of our State Edition we print an " Index," giving 
our readers an opportunity to turn to such items of news as may 
interest them most. The average reader of that edition will not take 
the time to hunt the news items he wants to read, and our " Index " 
is printed as a time-saver. It is the busy man's friend, and is a strong 
argument in your canvass, especially when a man tells you " The News 
is too big." By referring to the " Index " he need read only such mat- 
ters as may interest him. 

Want Ads 
The News averages about three pages of classified advertisements 
daily; this is one of the best circulation builders that we have. Many 
thousands of our readers are interested in what others want to buy or 
may have to sell or exchange ; many are in search of employment ; em- 
ployers are seeking help ; real estate men buy, sell and exchange farms, 
houses and lots ; others sell live-stock, vehicles or farm implements ; in 
fact nearly every newspaper reader has occasion to look over our 
"Want" columns for something. 

Display Advertisements 

The more advertisements the greater the advantage to the subscriber. 

Advertisements are never allowed to encroach upon reading matter. 

If more advertising is received than can be accommodated in the space 

allotted for that purpose extra pages are added, and for each additional 



290 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 

column of advertising inserted not less than two columns of reading 
matter are added. 

News Gathering 
The News maintains a bureau in Washington, D. C, under the 
supervision of an able correspondent. Special dispatches from this 
bureau are published exclusively in The News; they usually pertain to 
governmental affairs of great importance to our readers. In nearly 
every large news center throughout the United States The News 
is represented either by a special correspondent, the Associated Press 
or United Press, the two largest and most reliable news-gathering or- 
ganizations in the world. 

Local vs. General Newspapers 

Sometimes a " prospect " will tell you he is reading a local paper, 
because it keeps him better posted in affairs around home, and that a 
state paper does not give him the items he is especially interested in. 
It is true that neither The News, nor any other metropolitan newspaper, 
prints many of the minor items referred to, nor can they afford to 
devote space to much news of that kind. The local newspaper usually 
is a weekly and sells at the nominal price of fifty cents or one dollar 
a year, has a circulation averaging perhaps 1,000 or less per issue and 
is confined to people living within a few townships and seldom goes 
beyond the limitations of the county. Local newspapers do not print 
the news of the world " hot off the griddle " like The Indianapolis News. 
The local newspaper may be especially interesting to the farmer because 
it tells him about " Hiram Twigg losing a hog with cholera," or " Bill 
Smith's cow having a calf," or "Josh Jones having raised the biggest 
pumpkin or squash in the country," etc. ; the farmer's wife and daughter 
may want to know all about the " strawberry social in Newt Plum's 
backyard," or " the sewing bee or taffy-pulling at Aleck Tansy's." 

If The News would continue as a metropolitan newspaper and also 
take the place of the local papers published in Indiana, it would be 
required to print ioo or more pages a day. 

We print a newspaper for all the people, and not for people of a 
certain locality. 



VI. FORMS RELATING TO ACCOUNTS 
















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292 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 




FORMS RELATING TO ACCOUNTS 



293 





PLEASE 1 


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Form 43. Statement of Newsdealer's or Route Owner's Account. 
Form used by The Portland Oregonian. Size, 6^x9 1 4 inches. 



294 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



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CIRCULATION REPORT 8:00 A. M, 



Office Total 

Sales 

Adv. . 

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Carriers...... 

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Balance 



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Form 45. Morning Report of Counter Sales. Form used by The 
Portland Oregonian. Size, 4^4x7% inches. 



296 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



CIRCULATION REPORT 2:30 P. M. 



Office Total 



{ Daily 



Sunday 



ADV. 



D.H. 



COMP. 



SALES 



2% 



Balance on Hand 8:00 A. M. 



i Daily 



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Form 46. Afternoon Report of Counter Sales. Form used by The 
Portland Oregonian. Size, 4 1 /4*7 inches. 






FORMS RELATING TO ACCOUNTS 



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298 SCIENTIFIC CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT 



COLLECTOR'S DAILY CITY CIRCULATION STATEMENT 



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INCORPORATED 

Date 5- -22 ^g^b J. W. Woods 



Collector 



PAY 


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Form 49. Statement of Daily Collections. Sice, 5x3 inches. 



VII. MISCELLANEOUS FORMS 



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CARRIERS' PLEDGE 

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THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS 

I 

j I agree to make an effort to secure at least ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER 
svithin 48 hours. 

Carrier. 

Record. No Station 

i ' ; 

NEW SUBSCRIBER 

Name 

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NOTE — Additional- pledges may be secured from your station manager 



Form 51. Carrier's Pledge. Size, 5x3 inches. 



I Evening Post Coal Coupon 

1 

! 

Louisville, Ky 

TO THE EVENING POST CO. 

Enter my order for tons of No. 1 Lump Evening Post 

Coal to — 



Form 52. Coal Coupon. 



MISCELLANEOUS FORMS 



301 





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INDEX 



Accounting, 210-219, 291-298 

analysis of, 213 

forms used in, 214 

present condition of, 211 

uniform system for newspapers, 
210 
Accounts, forms relating to, 291- 

298 
Advertiser and publisher, rela- 
tions between, 79 
Advertiser, The Montgomery, 20 
Advertiser, what he buys, 26 
Advertisers' attitude, 61 
Advertising 

effect of upon circulation, 34 

for circulation, 53 

news, paying for, 36 

not a commodity, 26 

policy, 30, 33 

revenue, 36, 62, 66 
Advertising and circulation 

coequal departments, 28 

co-operation, 169 

revenue, 60-67 

relation between, 36 
Advertising columns, ratio of 

news columns to, 2>7 
Advertising rates 

and circulation, 74-81 

and contests, 195 

comparison of 75 

not commensurate with circula- 
tion, 78 

table of, 75 

variations in, 74 

303 



Agents, 102, 130, 226, 255 
American Newspaper Publishers' 

Association, 22, 24 
American, The New York, 38, 54, 

167, 205 
Applications for membership — 
Indianapolis News Association 
of Carriers, 271 
Arrears, 118, 226 
Association, 
benefit, 106, 273 
carriers', 94, 271 
Circulation Builders', 25 
Indianapolis News Carriers', 97 
International, Circulation Man- 
agers', 19 
of American Advertisers, 22 
Texas State Managers, 20 
Atlanta Constitution, The, 169 
Audit Bureau of Circulations, 21- 
24, 70, 80, 122, 210, 245 
circulation requirements, 212 



Bad accounts, 86 
Baltimore News, The, 40 
Benefit association, 106, 279 
Bonus system for carriers, 117 
Boston circulation methods, 155 
Boston Globe, The, 36, 37 
Boston Post, The, 75, 155, 169, 205 
Brooklyn Eagle, The, 167, 185 
Bulletin, The Philadelphia, 68 
Bulletins, to carriers, 138, 145, 261 
International Circulation Man- 
agers' Association, 20 



304 



INDEX 



Cancellations, 98, 119 
Canvassers, 104, 127 
Capital, The Des Moines, 187 
Carriers, 90-100, 110-113, 136, 261, 
271 

as aids to advertising depart- 
ment, 113 

as news reporters, 112 

controlling, 98 

extra compensation for, 137 

instructions to, 99 

sales efficiency of, 113 

the work of, 96 
Carriers' Association, 261 
Carriers' pledge, 300 
Cash discount vs. premiums, 178 
Centralized control, 95 
Charts, 44, 91, 123, 162 
Chicago Examiner, The, 79 
Chicago Herald, The, 21, 79 
Chicago News, The, 62, 66, 80, 211 
Chicago Tribune, The, 18, 36, 37, 
38, 40, 65, 76, 79, 84, 168, 170, 
177, 197, 205 
Christian Science Monitor, 155 
Chronicle, The Houston, 72, 145 
Cincinnati Enquirer, The, 39, 124 
Circulation 

advertising for, 53 

as a commodity, 26-29 

audit bureau of, 22 

building up, 126, 149 

campaigns, 149, 158 

city, 94, 108-120 

country, 90, 121, 125 

distribution of between city and 
country, 70 

economic limit of, 40 

effect of advertising policy upon, 

34 
effect of European War upon, 
52 



factors affecting, 30-43 

figures, honesty in, 21 

forced, 195 

foreign, 132 

limitations of Sunday edition, 
200 

mail, 103, 121, 128, 217 

methods in Boston, 155 

modern, conditions producing, 
18 

outside the retail radius, 123 

requirements of Audit Bureau. 
212 

requirements, standardization of, 
58 

rural, 126 

standard, fixing a, 68 

statistics, 71 

suburban, 125 

suburban and rural, 121-132 

troubles, analysis of, 149 

unprofitable, reducing, 80 

unsalable, 79 
Circulation accounting, 210-219 

analysis of, 213 

forms used in, 214 

present condition of, 211 
Circulation and advertising 

coequal departments, 28 

co-operation, 169 

rates, 74-81 

revenue, 60-67 
Circulation department 

a modern, 90-107 

and the subscriber, 120 

esprit de corps, 133-148 

organization chart, 91 
Circulation management 

general considerations, 57-60 

history of, 17-25 

modern, 44-56 

principles of, 57-89 

recent tendencies in, 24 

rise of the, 17 



INDEX 



305 



Circulation manager, 59 

duties, scope of, 55 

efficiency of, 135 

factors not controlled by, 30 

preparation for his work, 133 

qualifications of, 45 

responsibility of, 134 
Circulation revenue 

below production cost, 65 

vs. advertising revenue, 36 
Citizen-Press, The Jackson 
(Mich.), 88, 119, 125, 138, 179 
Citizen Press Jr., 140 
City circulation, 94, 108-120 
Clientele and price, relation be- 
tween, 37 
Collections, 86, 96, 115-119, 264, 
298 

forms relating to, 243, 244 
Columbus (Ohio) State Journal, 

The, 146 
Columbus (Ohio) Telegram, The, 

118 
Combinations, 131 
Commercial-Appeal, The Mem- 
phis, 129 
Commissions, 127 
Competitive Conditions, Adverse. 

30 
Complaints, 98, 114, 235, 241, 265 
Constitution, The Atlanta, 169 
Contests, 138, 188-198, 220 

cost of, 194 

details of, 191 

frequency of, 196 

in salesmanship, 189 

postal regulations of, 220 

psychology of, 188 

special place of, 197 

timeliness in, 191 
Country circulaion, handling, 100 
Coupons, 176, 222 
Courier-Journal, The Louisville, 
64, 129, 214 



Credit renewals, 226 



Daily office record, sub-stations, 

299 
Deadheads, eliminating, 84 
Definitions, 223 
Deliveries and subscriptions, forms 

relating to, 231-242 
Delivery, 

city, 94, 108, 231, 262 
country, 90, 231 
mail, 103, 217, 231 
Departmental co-operation, 46 
Des. Moines Capital, The, 187 
Detroit News, The, 25 68 
Dispatch, The St Paul, in 
Distribution, mechanism of, 93 
Distribution of circulation be- 
tween city and country, 70 
District men, rules and regulations 
for, 267 



Eagle, The Brooklyn, 167, 185 
Eagle, The Wichita, 116, 189 
Economic limit of circulation, 40 
Editorial 

influence, 157 

policy, 30 
Efficiency, 117, 135, 138, 140, 146 
Enquirer, The Cincinnati, 39, 124 
Esprit de corps 

among carriers, 99 

of circulation department, 133- 
148 
European War, the effect of upon 

circulation, 52 
Examiner, The Chicago, 79 
Expirations, 86, 118, 217 



306 



INDEX 



Farmer's needs, meeting the, 128 

Features, special, 51, 159 

Foreign circulation, prestige vs. 

expense in, 132 
Forms, 231-301 
Fourth Estate, The, 20, 62, 131 



Gilt Edge Newspapers, The, 22, 

70, 76 
Globe, The Boston, 36, 37 
Globe, The New York Evening. 

22, 51, 86, 160, 165 



Hartford Times, The, 146 
Hearst, 19, 25, 31 
Hearst circulation methods, 156 
Herald, The Chicago, 21, 79 
Herald, The Louisville, 169 
Herald, The New York, 18, 38, 39, 

76, 78 _ 
Home delivery systems, no 
House organ as an efficiency me- 
dium, 140 
Houston Chronicle, The, 72, 145 



Increase of price, 35 

Indianapolis News Benefit Asso- 
ciation, 106, 273 

Indianapolis News Carriers' Asso- 
ciation, 97 

Indianapolis News, The, 37, 50, 63, 
72, 83, 90-107, 117, 121, 127, 
131, 185, 215 

Individual service to subscribers, 
92 



Instructions 

to carriers, 99 . 

to solicitors, 104, 280 
International Circulation 
gers' Association, 19 



Mana- 



Jackson (Mich.) Citizen-Press, 
The, 88, 119, 125, 138, 179 

Journal, The New York Evening, 
32, 37, 5i, 74, 75, 76, 78 



Ledger, The Philadelphia, 54 
Liability of subscribers, 118 
Local papers and state edition, 130 
Los Angeles Tribune, The, 178, 185 
Louisville Courier- Journal, The, 

64, 129, 214 
Louisville Herald, The, 169 
Louisville Post, The, 73, 168 



Mail edition, 72 

Mail, The New York Evening, 51, 
166, 169, 191, 208 

Mailing cost of second-class mat- 
ter, 224 

Mailing rates for news agents, 226 

Mailing room, 217, 227 

Memphis Commercia 1- Appeal, 
The, 129 

Metropolitan transient sales, 68 

Minneapolis News, The, 127 

Modern circulation department, 
90-107 

Monitor, The Christian Science, 

155 
Montgomery Advertiser, The, 20 
Munsey group, 25 



INDEX 



307 



New business, 86 
News agents, mailing rates, 226 
News columns, ratio of to adver- 
tising column, 37 
Newspaper and periodical rates, 

variations between, 74 
New subscribers, handling, 114 
News, The Baltimore, 40 
News, The Chicago, 62, 66, 80, 211 
News, The Detroit, 25, 68 
News, The Indianapolis, 37, 50, 63, 
72, 83, 90-107, ii7, 121, 127, 
131, 183, 215 
News, The Minneapolis, 127 
News, The Toronto, 115, 117 
New York 
American, The, 38, 54, 167, 205 
Evening Globe, The, 22, 51, 86, 

160, 165 
Evening Journal, The, 32, 37, 

51, 74, 75, 76, 78 
Evening Mail, The, 51, 166, 169. 

191, 208 
Evening Post, The, 17, 32, 38, 53, 

152-154, 161, 170, 207 
Evening World, The, 37, 76, 168 
Herald, The, 18, 38, 39, 76, 78 
(Morning) World, The, 38, 42, 

51, 54, 160, 174, 178 
Press, The, 205 
Sun, The, 38, 51, 86, 158, 160, 

163, 167 
Times, The, 38, 40, 42, 50, 84, 
85, 86, 154, 167, 170, 173, 200, 
207 
Tribune, The, 33, 54, 87, 149, 152, 
200 



Omaha World-Herald, The, 72 
One-cent newspaper, 34 



Oregonian, The Portland, 58, 87, 
in, 128, 174, 215 

Organization 
chart, 91 

of circulation department, 90 
of newspaper departments, 44 

Outgoing mail, 227 

Overprint and returns, 82-85 



Paducah (Ky.) Evening Sun, The, 

63, 298 
Palladium, The Richmond (Ind.) : 

116 
Paper, 30 

color and quality of, 41 
Patronage, floating, holding the, 

51 
Periodical and newspaper rates. 

variations between, 74 
Philadelphia Bulletin, The, 68 
Philadelphia carrier system, 109 
Philadelphia Ledger, The, 54 
Philadelphia Press, The, 205 
Pioneer- Press, The St. Paul, in 
Portland (Ore.) carrier system, 

in 
Portland Oregonian, The, 58, 87, 

in, 128, 174, 215 
Postage, 18, 64, 224 
Postal definitions, 223 
Postal regulations of second-class 

mail 220-228 
Post-Dispatch, The St. Louis, 137, 

202, 204 
Post-Office and the publisher, 220, 

227 
Post, The Boston, 75, 155, 169, 205 
Post, The Louisville, 73, 168 
Post, The New York Evening, 17. 

32, 38, 53, 152-154, 161, 170, 

207 
Post, The Saturday Evening, 74, 

147 



3 o8 



INDEX 



Premium plan 
advisability of, 183 
basic principles of, 173 
for periodicals, 175 
in practice, 182 
modified, 174 

Premiums, 127, 172-187 
as a means of approach, 186 
for mail subscriptions, 187 
in other lines of business, 180 
in the competitive field, 182 
policy of using, 172 
postal regulations of, 220 
psychology of, 179 
selection of, 184 
vs. cash discount, 178 

Press run, 85, 260 

Press, The New York, 205 

Press, The Philadelphia, 205 

Price and clientele, 2>7 

Principles of circulation manage- 
ment, 57-89 

Production costs, 64, 65 

Publisher and advertiser, relation 
between, 79 

Publisher and the post-office, 220 

Publisher's policy, promoting the, 

49 
Publishing organization, the ideal, 

44 
Purchasing power of subscribers, 

39 



Readers, keeping in touch with, 50 

Renewals, 85, 226, 249 

Reports, forms of, 245-260 

Retail trading radius, 70, 122-125 

Returns, 82, 203 

Returns and overprint, 82-85 

Revenue, 

advertising, 36, 62, 66 

circulation, 60, 65, 66 



fluctuations, 60 

gross, principle underlying, 66 
Rewards to carriers, 145 
Richmond (Ind.) Palladium, 116 
Rules, 

for carriers, 261 

for district men, 267 

for solicitors, 280 
Rural and suburban circulation, 

121-132 \ 

Rural circulation, 103, 126 

vs. urban advertisers, 121 
Rural solicitors, 127 
Rural subscription schemes, 126 



Salaries, 18 

Sales 

in small cities, 69 
Metropolitan transient, 68 
possibilities, 68-73 

Salt Lake City Telegram, The, 126 

Sample copies, 224 

Saturday Evening Post, The, 74, 

147 
Schenectady Union-Star, The, 48, 

73 
Second-class matter, mailing cost 

of, 224 
Selling expense, 85-89, 128 
Selling price, 30, 34 
Service to subscribers, 92, 101, 115 
Shafer group, 25 
Slogans, 170 
Small cities, standard of sales in 

69 
Solicitors, 

force of, 147, 148 

instructions to, 104, 280 

rural, 127 
Special editions, 206 
Special features, 159-171 

appeals, 51, 160, 161 



INDEX 



309 



appeals, analysis of, 164 

broad effects of, 167 

in small newspapers, 170 

timeliness of, 168 
Star, The Washington, 37, 76, 146 
State edition, 103, 129, 130, 287 

and local papers, 130 

local distributions of, 130 
State Journal, The Columbus 

(Ohio), 146 
State or mail edition, 72 
Statistics of newspaper circula- 
tion, 71 
Stops, 98, 119, 235, 240, 265 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The, 137, 

202, 204 
St. Paul carrier system, in 
St. Paul Dispatch, The, in 
St. Paul Pioneer-Press, The, in 
Street sales competition, 113 
Subscribers 

and circulation department, 120 

complaints from, 114 

holding, 159 

liability of, 118 

new, 114 

postal definitions of, 223 

purchasing power of, 39 

record of, 258 

reports on, 93 
Subscriptions, 126, 139, 215, 231, 
242 

and deliveries, forms relating to, 
231-242 

routine of handling, 215 
Sub-station managers, instructions 

to, 94 
Sub-stations, 94, 267 
Suburban and rural circulation, 

121-132 
Sunday edition, 199-206 

advertising in, 201 

and the magazine, 199 

circulation, 200, 205 



selling, 202 
Sun, the New York, 38, 51, 86, 158, 

160, 163, 167 
Sun, The Paducah (Ky.) Evening, 

63, 298 
Supplements, 207-209 



Tables, 64, 71, 75, 77 

Tariff, 61 

Telegram, The Columbus (Ohio), 

118 
Telegram, The Salt Lake City, 126 
Times, The Hartford, 146 
Times, The New York, 38, 40, 42, 

50, 84, 85, 86, 154, 167, 170, 

173, 200, 207 
Times, The Trenton, 61 
Toronto News, The, 115, 117 
Trading radius, retail, 70 
Trenton Times, The, 61 
Tribune, The Chicago, 18, 36, 37, 

38, 40, 65, 76, 79, 84, 168, 170, 

177, 197, 205 
Tribune, The Los Angeles, 178. 

185 
Tribune, The New York, 33, 54, 

87, 149, 152, 200 
Typographical dress, 30, 34, 40 



U 



Union- Star, The Schenectady, 48, 

73 
Urban advertisers vs. rural circu- 
lation, 121 

W 

Washington Star, The, 37, 76, 146 
Waste, cutting down, 85 
Wichita Eagle, The, 116, 189 
World Herald, The Omaha, 72 



3io INDEX 

World, The New York Evening, World, The New York (Morn- 
37, 76, 168 ing), 38, 42, 51, 54, 160, 174, 

178 

























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